Drawing pets - Sally Michel

Sally portrays her subjects vividly and with careful attention to anatomical accuracy. As she says, there is one difference between painting animals and painting other subjects - such as landscapes, plants, still life, even human portraits - animals move. You never know when you are portraying an animal whether you have time for a detailed study, or will need to work fast to capture its likeness in a sketch. Her book is as varied as it is practical. She draws cats and dogs and other domestic animals with a skill that is born of her love of her subject. What is vital, she points out, is observation and accuracy. Even the apparently random patches of colour on a tortoiseshell cat, for example, obey certain rules. This wonderfully informative book is useful for all those wanting to paint their pets.