My niece contacted me one evening and said her good friend had lost her beloved dog. She asked if she could commission me to do a small portrait. I usually avoid commissions. The desire to please clients often results in work that’s tight and careful instead of alive. But this was Karlee.
She sent me several photos of “Rhett” and described his personality. I started with the sketch. At first, I was doing what I tend to do with commissions. Trying to get everything right. The angles. The likeness. The gestures. That nagging pressure that speaks in a critical tone: Make sure they like it.
Then something shifted. I stopped trying to draw a perfect portrait of a dog and started looking for him instead. I focused on the personality in the eyes, the small tilt of the head, the flop of the ears. I got loose. This wasn’t about capturing a likeness. It was about remembering him.
That’s when the emotion hit me.
I had several reference photos open, looking from one to another, trying to catch something deeper than a pose. Somewhere in that process it stopped feeling technical and started feeling personal. The emotion began as a lump in my throat. Then the tears came slowly — and for a moment, not so slowly. It caught me off guard… but it also felt honest. The sketch relaxed. The focus became clear. The tilt of the head. The mischievous eyes. It felt right. The rest stayed loose. A fluid impression. Closer to how memories feel. Less about chasing reality.
This one shifted my attitude. It has relaxed my resistance to commissions. It’s now less about getting it right…more about finding the connection.