Today i worked like a dog. I was asked to make a portrait of a Heidewachel dog. She is the race of a hunting dog with shades of grey, cream and brown in his fur. Of course this animal did not know to model. She constantly changed positions and moved through the space of the studio. As i followed the Heidewachel. art material was spreading all over the place. The mixed techniques of chalk and watercolor worked out very well for the fur. I still have work on the resemblance and personality of this animal. But how can one catch the soul of a dog? At the end of the session I felt dirty and tired like a beast.

After one hour Anna, a Russian girl came for modelling. She is an excellent model who lives around the corner. We did short poses which pushes me to work fast and directly. Currently I am a exploring a new techniques: mixed materials on large sheets (60x80) of Asian handmade bamboo paper. This first sketch was not so good: the dogs face was still on my mind. The last sketch succeeded well: a reclining pose painted in shades of purple. I will give her one of the drawings. The big framed sketch in black&white will be propably look nice on her wall newly painted in a deep color.

Anna mentioned to me a dance sketch by Picasso. I forgot about this. It is the one of the best dance drawing i have ever seen: a rough expressive drawing of a dance couple in pastel. I once saw in the window of a poster shop Art Unlimited. I was very impressed and i thought" this is what i want, this is what i am looking for". I have to find that image again either on internet, in a shop or better: the original one somewhere in an art collection.

After this hard working day, i will do some e-mailing and reading tonight. And I like to end with a quote by Groucho Marx: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read"

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