Merlin the dog is a wizard at sitting still

Well behaved hound stars in demonstration for Seaton art group

Merlin the dog provided some magic moments for members of Seaton and District Art Society.

He was the well-behaved sitter for his owner, well known local artist Emma MacFadyen.

With only the promise of a few dog-biscuits her faithful hound, a grey fourway- cross, sat very still and waited to be drawn.

Emma started on pale-gray paper using charcoal, smudging with her fingers as she went. This early work was just to get the general shape, including sorting out the foreshortening caused by Merlin’s long front legs coming out towards the viewer. She also softly indicated the eyes.

She then started to bring in her pastels. In all, only four colours were used , plus the charcoal for extra emphasis. Merlin had a highly textured coat tending towards a bit of a poodleish curl, so finding his shape underneath was not all that easy. However the use of pastels enabled Emma to either use a general softness or quite a fine line with the same colour. Interestingly quite a lot of mauve was used and also some dark blue to add richness to the black.

Emma commented that in order to draw any animal it is necessary to be quite a quick drawer and also to be as flexible as possible to deal with any movement.

Chairman Anna Mason thanked Emma and Merlin and said she done admirably well in finding the structure under all the hairy coat!