"Beau the Shelter Cat"
So, about two years ago, I offered a commission for a pet portrait as part of a fundraiser for the animal rescue group I'm part of. The raffle - pardon, I meant "opportunity drawing", the cops apparently see a difference between the two - was duly held, and another of our group's members (D) won, and decided that she wanted a portrait of Beau, the Shelter Cat.
Now, D has a long history of adopting animals and not taking them home with her, but stowing them elsewhere. She's apparently got too big of a menagerie at home (she's older than I am, and still living with her parents, who I suspect have pretty much put their foot down on the subject) so she gets other people to take care of them for her. In fact, she's adopted four animals since I've known her, and of the four, only one has gone home with her - and that one is the one that her usual victim, XO, won't have in the house because XO's dogs hate him, and one physically attacked him. When she found Beau as a kitten living in the woods near our group's shelter, she adopted him... and he became a permanent resident, the shelter's cat. He's got a pretty good life there, with the run of the place (other than the dog runs, for safety reasons) and plenty of attention from the volunteers who run the shelter.
Still, she's very fond of him, spoiling him rotten whenever she's there, and it's not surprising that she wanted me to do a picture of him. The problem was, no one could get a photo of him that she liked for me to work from! He's had professional cameramen from the local press trying to take pictures of him, but I don't think any of them know much about cats, or maybe they were just impatient, because he wanted nothing to do with it. I think she was about ready to give up on the whole idea.
That kind of frustrated me. I'd made a promise and she was keeping me from carrying out what I promised. So when I was at the shelter with a camera, taking pictures for a fundraiser we were doing, I went inside and decided to try my luck. I gave him some attention, brushed him well, and took his picture, no problem. Click, click, done. D loved the shots. She was utterly amazed that I was able to get several good shots, and picked her favorite for me to work from.
Now, I've got the portrait done, and she loved it in-progress, so hopefully she'll love the finished product even more.
Beau the Shelter Cat by ~rurounitriv on deviantART
Now, D has a long history of adopting animals and not taking them home with her, but stowing them elsewhere. She's apparently got too big of a menagerie at home (she's older than I am, and still living with her parents, who I suspect have pretty much put their foot down on the subject) so she gets other people to take care of them for her. In fact, she's adopted four animals since I've known her, and of the four, only one has gone home with her - and that one is the one that her usual victim, XO, won't have in the house because XO's dogs hate him, and one physically attacked him. When she found Beau as a kitten living in the woods near our group's shelter, she adopted him... and he became a permanent resident, the shelter's cat. He's got a pretty good life there, with the run of the place (other than the dog runs, for safety reasons) and plenty of attention from the volunteers who run the shelter.
Still, she's very fond of him, spoiling him rotten whenever she's there, and it's not surprising that she wanted me to do a picture of him. The problem was, no one could get a photo of him that she liked for me to work from! He's had professional cameramen from the local press trying to take pictures of him, but I don't think any of them know much about cats, or maybe they were just impatient, because he wanted nothing to do with it. I think she was about ready to give up on the whole idea.
That kind of frustrated me. I'd made a promise and she was keeping me from carrying out what I promised. So when I was at the shelter with a camera, taking pictures for a fundraiser we were doing, I went inside and decided to try my luck. I gave him some attention, brushed him well, and took his picture, no problem. Click, click, done. D loved the shots. She was utterly amazed that I was able to get several good shots, and picked her favorite for me to work from.
Now, I've got the portrait done, and she loved it in-progress, so hopefully she'll love the finished product even more.
Beau the Shelter Cat by ~rurounitriv on deviantART