NINA [AKA - THE WEINER] - DOG PORTRAIT IN WATERCOLOUR - STEP BY STEP

Drawing of Miss Nina, my niece's dog

Spots on nose and eyes masked. First washes of yellow ochre and quin. burnt orange applied, some wet in wet, some wet on dry.

Collar painted in mix of phthalo. and cobalt blue. Starting eyes with usual w/w applications of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. 

Because she has such a shaggy coat, I decided to not paint her w/w, but rather by applying individual thin strokes of colour.

Tongue painted with quin. pink, and shaded in pink, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone. Continue to build up her coat with more thin applications of paint. 

... and more applications ...
Starting to look like Nina.

Here she is - finished. 

Photo I took of the Weiner when she was last out for a visit a few weeks ago.

My niece has had Nina for a year. She got her from a friend whose dog had pups, so they have been together from the beginning, and have formed a lovely relationship. As you can probably see from the photo, Nina is an exuberant dog, and has a beautiful nature. She is the only dog that Bruno [my horse] will tolerate. I think Nina feels Bruno is just a very big dog, and he appreciates it that she is quiet, and does not try to chase him. My dog, on the other hand, will try to stalk him like a border collie and nip at his feet. In her own weird way, I think my dog is trying to protect me. Anyway, that is the story of the portrait - I painted it as a gift for my niece's birthday.

Thank you for visiting!

MT. BAKER ... OR ... SOME OFF-ROAD TESTING ON MY NEW HIP ...

This is a very cool, 60s -style coffee shop/bakery/restaurant at the base of Mt. Baker. We stopped here for some energy before heading up the mountain.

The ranger station a bit past the restaurant had this amazingly huge tree trunk, so I asked Savannah to pose in front.

Lower parking lot [upper one closed till ski season] Most of the cars were Canadian, as it was a long weekend for Canada but not the U.S.

Christine trekking along ahead of me, heading to one of the small lakes.

C. and I stopped here for a snack, and to do some sketching. While we were here, I noticed some activity in the steam below. It was some brook trout spawning - fascinating to watch.

Look hard - you should be able to see three trout.

Another spot we stopped to sketch.

Mt Shuksan, next door to Mt Baker. 

Just to prove that I really was hiking here ...

Some of my sketches

Christine and John are neighbours of mine, across the street. Both are ecologists with Environment Canada, so time spent with them is always interesting. On Monday [Canadian Thanksgiving] we headed across the border to Mt Baker for a day hike. John and Savannah [their daughter] would gallop on ahead, while Christine and I would take our time, and stop to do some sketching along the way. It was a wonderful, fascinating time with scenery that left  me with my mouth hanging open in awe. And other than being exhausted when done [that's the most hiking I have done in over 15 years], my hip and right leg [the one that had surgery] were fine. I even had a tougher-than-usual riding lesson the next morning! It is SOOOO damn great to be able to be active again!!!!!

Thank you for dropping by!