The Boatride

This is a 'study' for a painting that I am presently working on in a larger and more detailed size.  The title is "The Boatride", and it portrays my neighbor, Shawn, and his bulldog, Dozer.  Shawn isn't a boater, and he and Dozer have never been in a Rangeley boat together...or any other kind of boat, as far as I know.  But, I just had this imagined glimpse of them, and so I approached Shawn and told him about my idea.  His reaction was, "What do you need?"
So, we shot photos of him and Dozer posed in Shawn's yard with the sun backlighting them, and I shot some more of Shawn sitting in a chair in the rowing position.  And, then I sorted and filed the jpgs and put the painting on my list of upcoming works.  And months went by.  Then, Dozer got sick.  He was an elderly fellah and had many age related health challenges.  But, Shawn saw him through them as they presented.  He spent a ton of money doing this for his friend, but, finally, it was all just too much for Dozer to be even comfortable, much less his former happy self......and Shawn had to let him go. 

This all culminated at almost the same time that I was going to begin the painting.  So, I went ahead knowing that it would become a memorial--not just to a great dog and fine companion, but to a man's devotion to his dog.  The title became a metaphor for the process that they went through together.  And, today, Shawn will come to our home and see the study and painting in progress for the first time.

He went away for a couple of weeks, and he came home with  a little bulldog puppy, named Rocko.  And the whole process begins anew.  He was hesitant to make this committment....again.  But, in the end, Shawn knows, as I do, that life is too short and too difficult to do it without a good dog at your side.

And, here's Rocko too