Blade the Malamute

Back in November we held the first ever Steeple Leaze Farm Christmas Fair and this is where I met Blades owners Pam and Nathan, they had a stall there for their business SO1O selling some of their wonderful handmade work Nathan contacted me shortly after the event asking if I would do a portrait of their Malamute Blade, he said he has been looking for someone to do a portrait for a while and when he saw my work at the Christmas Fair he knew I was the right person for the job!

I arranged to head over to Bridport to meet Blade properly, although I had seen some photos it's always great to meet them if I can as it helps to get to know their character. At first he was a little shy but soon came out of his shell when we took him out to a nearby field for a run, it was great to see him outside, he really is an impressive pooch!

I took several photos of him whilst I was there and after going through them with Nathan and Pam we finally settled on the best one to capture Blade, they also decided to go for an A1 size canvas, he's a big dog so deserved to be painted on an equally big canvas. I have to say I tend to prefer working on a larger scale as it gives me the opportunity to capture as much detail as I can.

Christmas was a seriously busy time for me so Nathan and Pam were happy to wait until January for the portrait and I delivered it this week. Although they had already seen a photo of the finished painting it's never the same as seeing it for real and I always love being there to see peoples reactions when they first see their new piece of art.