“Survivor Reaching for the Light,” Susan Donley, 2007. Colored pencil and Neocolor II on 9×12 inch Pastelbord.

I’ve always been a dandelion fan, from the days when I picked bouquets of them for my mom. The very thing I love most about them — their ability to grow and thrive anywhere — is exactly what puts them on lawn fanatics’ “Most Wanted” list. Give them a tablespoon of dirt and they’ll put down roots, send up shoots, and push their sunny blossoms skyward! Every time I see a dandelion making a go of it from a crack in a sidewalk, I can’t help but smile at their optimism and determination.

Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer at the height of dandelion season. From the moment I heard those words, “It’s cancer” to my surgery three weeks later, my heart never left my throat. My bone-chilling fear eased only when I took walks around the neighborhood. The neighborhood birds reminded me that “His Eye is On Sparrow.” The neighborhood dandelions were in full bloom, the perfect parable of survival, growing in lawns, through weed-smothering mulch, and out of cracks in the road. They not only survived, they thrived!

One particularly determined survivor spoke to me from our neighbor’s steps. Growing in dense shade in a crack in the mortar between the bricks, its profuse blooms reached out to the sunlight that only appeared a short few hours out of the day. What a symbol of hope! I took several photos of it, though I hardly need the photos to conjure its image from my mind, it has become such a part of me by now.

When Ann Kullberg announced that dandelions were the theme for her Member Theme Show this year, I had to honor my dandelion co-survivor! I took the opportunity to try the new technique of working with colored pencil over an underpainting with Neocolor 2 on Pastelbord.

During the close observation that drawing demands, I realized this dandelion, was actually two different plants of different species. I think there’s a potent lesson to be learned in that, as well!

I’m often asked “Do you actually draw pets from life?” by pet lovers who wonder what my secret must be to keeping a dog or cat still for the hours it takes to finish a portrait. The only magic I employ for long sittings is the magic of photography. It’s hard enough to get a pet to stay still long enough to take a photo, much less to do a portrait!

I do draw from life, but the detailed drawings drawings I’m known for are not the result (they take 8-10 hours to do)! When I draw from life, I try to capture the lively movement that would drive me crazy if my goal were a detailed portrait. In these sketches (called “gesture drawings” by the artists, for obvious reasons) I quickly try to follow the movement of the animal with the movement of my hand without letting my brain interfere too much. No erasing — I just leave the lines be to record the action. I love looking back at these sketches, since they trigger vivid movie-memories of the live action.

These two drawings of my Standard Poodle Rosie record her chewing a raw knuckle bone with great gusto right beside my desk chair.

I don’t expect anyone else to appreciate them (that’s not the point) and they usually stay snug in my sketchbook. I’m surprised that occasionally someone does respond to them, which made me decide to post some of my favorites here from time to time. If you don’t “get” them, ignore — it’s like trying to read someone else’s notes. If you do “get” them, enjoy!

What a pleasant surprise to be tagged by Mihaela Lica’s Online Public Relations blog back in July! I’m sure I’m supposed to have realized this through some automagical trackback or technorati technology, but since I’m a blog newbie (though have been hand-tooling web sites professionally since my first in 1996!), I had no idea until checking my stats now! Thank you, Mihaela, for the kind words:

Sue – at least to give you a link to her amazing site, where she displays the most beautiful pet portraits I’ve ever seen.

So, a month after her August 14 deadline for comments, I respond to Mihaela’s request for instances of pets being used in branding a non-pet business, here are a few I can think of:

• The most famous I can think of is the RCA Victor “His Master’s Voice” logo with a terrier mix named Nipper listening to an old Victrola.
• A more recent one is the Yellow Labrador Retriever pup mascot used in Cottonelle toilet paper ads and packaging here in the US. You can see their web site has a whole section called “Puppy Stuff.”
• The Mack Truck logo features a burly Bulldog. They even publish Bulldog® Magazine

There must be others, but those came to me right away.

This is a great topic — it would be interesting to see if this has changed over time, too. A good topic for someone’s graduate school thesis!

[NOTE: I'm taking a workshop to learn how to sell on the Web. This is a draft of a new "landing page" visitors will come to after clicking my Google ad. Let me know what you think -- I'd appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, it's all helpful. Use the comment field below or email me at info@PetsPictured.com.]

“Just look at that face!”
How many times has your dog inspired you to say those words?

A portrait captures that Look in an heirloom you’ll treasure forever.

People often pay my work the sincere compliment, “It looks just like a photograph!” That usually starts me thinking, “But there is so much more to it. In fact, it begs the question: ‘Why commission a portrait, if the result looks just like the photo I’m working from?’”

Your photo records your dog’s likeness — my portrait captures the “life-ness” — Why? Photographs dutifully record every ray of light that the camera “sees.” Of course, the camera doesn’t really “see,” its lens just frames and focuses the light passing through it. Artists, on the other hand, process what passes through their eyes differently. My “Artist’s Eye” filters out the nonessentials to reveal, well, the “essence” of my subject — a living, breathing being full of personality.

After over forty years of making art, I don’t know how it happens — part of it comes naturally, a gift from God. But like a gifted athlete (which I am *decidedly* not!), I do know I have to stay in condition, train, and practice to keep my skills sharp. But sheer mechanical ability to reproduce a subject isn’t enough either. Many artists have honed those skills, but their work lacks a spark of life. Folks say my work has that spark of life, though I can only muse about why and how.

Most non-artists think art is about gifted eyes and hands (but becoming blind or paralyzed hasn’t stopped artists, has it?). It’s about the connection between eyes and hands. Yes, the brain acts as microprocessor and switchboard, taking care of the mechanics of vision and small-motor coordination. More importantly, the Mind, Soul, Spirit, those seats of emotion and memory, are equally active participants in creating art.

Every pencil stroke in my portraits is filtered through a heart warmed by many dogs, cats, and birds over the years, a mind that savors light playing on fur and feathers, and a soul that marvels at the miracle of communication between species. I always call my portrait subjects by name when I’m working on them. Even my family knows “Brit,” “Lindsay,” Sadie,” “Gretel, “Bart and Tali,” “Marie and Pierre,” “Candy,” “Buddy,” “Miss Kitty,” “Bandit,” “Barkley,” “Daisy,” and others by name!

I’d love to meet your best buddy, too, and capture that wonderful face that makes your heart melt (and makes you hand over the treats!). Bring back warm memories of a beloved buddy now gone. Or commission your current mutt’s angelic mug as a reminder next time you arrive home to evidence of a chewing marathon!