Cathy, aged 11

What a beautiful gentle old girl is Cathy the retired racing greyhound. She belongs to a friend of mine, and I was asked to draw her out of all the special dogs my friend has loved!

When I began to sketch her out, it was really important to me to capture the soul that shows in her big brown eyes. 

After mapping everything out in dark sepia, I build up colours in layers, my favourite part of making a portrait. I'm really pleased with how Cathy turned out.