This scene was used in a Swift Canoe Catalogue to promote the Mattawa canoe. I really liked the image and especially the idea of the faithful dog accompanying his master. The love and loyalty of a dog is unmatched. Naja, the graying companion is focused keenly on the observer and is the key to the painting. I was working from a very small image with permission and I worked very hard to make the man look like Bill Swift who was paddling the canoe.
Portraits, especially miniatures, are very difficult and with a slight change in colour or shape or even tone, I changed the image from Elvis to Joe Pesci with a single stroke. I got it close to Bill and decided to quit while it was still a head ... at least until I had a bigger image to work from or even if Bill would sit still long enough for me to capture the likeness.
About a decade after this painting, I purchased a Mattawa. Margaritaville looks exactly like the canoe in the painting. I have my share of Swift canoes and kayaks. I have been told that I have enough but we all know that the canoeist who dies with the most canoes, wins. You don't actually win anything of course.
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Pixels. Thank you.
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