Mike the Dog portrait

Excerpts from emails between us and artist Jackie Ehle, who painted Mike's portrait for us.

"Hi Jackie –

We definitely want to commission you to paint Mike the dog’s portrait. We would like him to be in a sitting pose. He tends to ‘side sit’ on his hip rather than sit directly on his butt. We tried to capture the look in the photos and would like the portrait to show this pose. He was a little excited during the photo shoot so please omit his wiener if it is showing in the picture you are referencing. J We included some facial photos to show his grey fur on his chin. The rest of his coat is very shiny and soft like a younger dog. (Mike is 11 but plays like he is 2. Arthritis does not slow him down.) Mike wears a royal blue collar which currently has several dog tags on it. Please do not include his harness in the painting. We would love the background to be reminiscent of the dog park on Union street near Wilkes. Mike misses that park.

We are really excited. This is our wedding gift to each other. Henry (my fiancé) has adopted Mike and Mike has adopted Henry. -Judy"

"HI –

We are excited about the portrait! We think we want his legs to show in the painting – we like the way he sits and he has a cute butt. He is graying on his chin and a little around his wiener, other wise he has a beautiful shiny black coat. (Henry is embarrassed that I mentioned Mike’s ‘you know what’ – but Mike could care less.) - Judy "

"Hi Jackie –

It was nice to talk to you tonight. We are looking forward to having the portrait displayed. One thing I forgot to mention is to please avoid any red paint in his wiener area. Our Navy friends are big jokers and will tease Mike if he is immortalized with any suggestion of immodesty. If this gets to you too late don’t worry about it. Our house was a mad house of toddlers, both sets of parents, sister in law, and Mike the dog trying to hump the kids.

Talk to you soon - Judy"

"Judy and Henry,

I had added just a dot of red, a small joke, but I will over paint it! I think you will be thrilled. he came out really nice. I hope your wedding is wonderful, soon mike may be having toddlers of his own to hump, I got pregnant on my honeymoon. Thanks Jackie"

Here is the rough draft with the red penis. Click the bars at the top for links to the final.

www.jackieehle.com