Above: Maxwell sleeping next to me on the sofa. Staedtler Pigment Liner on Gutenberg paper (6 x 8 inch journal 12 inch wide spread). Click on the image to view an enlargement.
Every so often a friend will leave me in charge of his or her dog. Gasp. I love it when that happens. Walking and sketching and walking and sketching. I get to have some dog energy in the house, all while having a life model.
Maxwell is a small rat terrier (wait maybe he's a Jack Russell I'll have to ask—I don't know a lot about little dogs!). You can't see it here because his blanket hides his mouth but he has a front tooth that sticks up outside his lip and gives him a bit of a sneer—he looks very jaunty, like a pirate (a fictional one, not a real pirate who might do you harm).
His family was going out of town for the day so I nabbed him for two overnights, I mean really, why shouldn't they drop him off early and then not worry about him when they returned the next day after a long drive. Ha, cunning plan.
We had great fun. Despite being told he didn't like rain he was perfectly happy walking in the drizzling conditions of that weekend. He adapted immediately to the amenities here. He identified Dick as the soft touch within 30 seconds of meeting Dick, and they bonded over cheese. Mostly he cuddled with me and we went on adventure walks. It was delightful. And he was so well-behaved. When it was bedtime I told him to go into his crate and in he got. (Actually a couple times when I had to do something on the computer he got into his crate to rest happily too.) I was told he was a barker but only late one night when partying college students walked by did he "woof." "Thank you Maxwell," I called out from bed, and he was immediately silent. (Evidently if you don't say thank you he'll keep barking.)
I made a number of sketches of him while he was model in residence. I hope to do some paintings of him later this fall. But today I just wanted to share the memory with you. There is something so exquisite about small dogs with their tiny paws, and their elegant features. And you can pick them up and cuddle them so completely. And there is something delightful about the clicking of dog nails on the tile and wood floors—regardless the size of the dog.
