WIP Maine Coon Cat Final

Chance. Scratchboard with acrylic ink, 5 x 7 in. Copyright 2007, Tania Nault.

Ahh, that’s better: this colour is very true to the original board and as you can see, she has whiskers and I’ve signed it, so I’m officially done. Nothing left to do but wait for the framing to arrive!

I spent the morning at the Canadian Western Agribition watching the first round of the International Stock Dog Championship. And, yes, I took a lot of reference photos – I should have a sketch for a new scratchboard in the next day or so. I’ve actually been toying with the idea of entering something into the American Kennel Club’s “The Art Show at the Dog Show.” I wanted to do something with some action, or implied action, and thought the Border Collies at the stock dog trials would fit the bill. They did not disappoint! I saw everything from a lovely 1 minute 45 second run all the way down to a disqualification because the dog flew down the length of the ring and immediately latched on to one sheep by the shoulder. There were a few younger dogs in the ring and a couple of them seemed rather intimidated by the sheep, who would stand very rigid, arch their necks and stamp at the approaching dog. The whole event was fascinating to watch and made me very lonesome for our long gone Border Collie, Tippy.