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Dog portraits - Norwegian Elkhound
Graphite Pencils portrait of dog Norwegian Elkhoud Taisho. Giclée Fine Art Prints available, read more > |
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Hi Katja!
My apologies for taking so long to get back to you. As I mentioned, we decided to move recently and so my life has been upside down for a couple of months as we are nearly finished selling our house and moved into a rental home. We're now about 20 minutes south of San Francisco instead of right in the city.
While this was going on I finally got the portrait of Taisho back from the framers' and it looks great! I put it on a wall in our master bedroom and had my wife close her eyes while I stood her right in front of it. I told her this was her belated and now long-awaited birthday gift that she was surely going to love -- and so of course she couldn't imagine what it was -- and she was brought to tears. It's such a lovely portrait. You really captured his character and this is a piece of art we'll cherish the rest of our lives.
I'm really happy with how it turned out and feel so lucky to have kept digging on the Internet until I found you -- all the way in Sweden. The framers, who have seen it all, were really impressed with your work too. The eyes, the depth to the work -- they were pretty astonished. Attached is a photo of the framed piece. Getting a picture of Taisho is hard as he doesn't like to have cameras pointed at him. It took me a long time to get you a good photo to work with. And then having the framed drawing next to him adds to the complication, but I will try to get one of him and the drawing and send it along. I thought you might want to see the framing for now.
Best regards,
Gary Rainville
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Taisho is an 11-year-old Norwegian Elkhound with an independent, quietly noble character that is fitting to his handsome looks.
We adopted him when he was four years old as his family said they were moving into an apartment and couldn't keep him. We drove about 300 miles to meet him and possibly take him home. When we rang the door bell, there was the noise of ferocious barking on the other side of the door and my wife and I looked at each other like: Are we sure about this? Five minutes later he was on his back letting us pet him until our arms were tired. It turned out he likes to bark at some noises: door bells, knocks on doors, cats, truck with brakes that squeal and most of all other dogs. But when the people behind those knocks or rings reveal themselves, he couldn't be more pleased.
He was a real handful when we first got him because he wasn't properly socialized with other dogs. He always wanted to be dominate (although he's never been aggressive) with other dogs, large or small, and this manner of his would turn some of the nicest Golden Retrievers into raging beasts in reaction to him. However, he's always been great with people. He never begs for food or attention or does other things that can be annoying. He mostly wants to be in the same room as where the people are and he'll quietly lie in the corner on his bed or on a cool spot of the floor. As you can see, he's super-furry but he's not much one for cuddling, which is a shame because his coat is so luxurious. He does enjoy an occasional belly rub and an ear-scratching.
He doesn't fetch for balls or sticks unless there's a treat inside them -- he's got his own mind in that way and won't play "human games" unless he gets something good out of it. He loves to go on walks and sniff around and was a real athlete up until about a year ago when he turned 10 and his joints started getting tired. He still loves his walks, but goes very slowly, sometimes stumbling or even falling down. It's very sad for us to see, but his enthusiasm for walks hasn't waned.
The family we got Taisho from got him from a friend who had found him walking on the street in Southern California. At that time the vet estimated he was about a year old. So we're probably his third or fourth home. Thinking how such a lovable animal has had to move around and change people makes us sad for him, but he’s had a very happy life with us, we think.
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