Inktober 2023 Day 4 – Introducing Lucy

Inktober Day 4.  The Prompt is Dodge.

Today’s Inktober prompt created a little bit of stumper at first because I wasn’t sure how I would portray that.  Then I thought of all the times that our Chihuahua puppy, Lucy, dodged Mack to keep him from getting her bones and the inspiration hit me. I did the first sketch in my “dailies” sketchbook, and I liked how Lucy looked where you could see the twist in her body to cut and run from Mack.  (Since this is a frequent activity in the house, I could picture it easily in my head.) 

Because I am drawing these by hand and not importing them to Procreate, copying and redrawing a subject doesn’t always have the same spontaneity that the original does.  Plus I was moving from a horizontal to a vertical format so I had to put Mack on a different angle. 

I am sure by now you picked up on the fact that Mack is playing a different dog.  Lucy became part of our family in May.  Because we were grieving from Chloe, Lucy was a big adjustment for all of us, not just Mack.  It still hurts that Chloe isn’t with us anymore.  Lucy has taken away some of that sting.  Mack has been grumpy with Lucy and not very social until yesterday, when we took Lucy to get spayed.  Mack looked around the house for her and then sprawled glumly out on the floor, looking a little sad. It was quiet here without Lucy and we all noticed her absence. We almost forgot to give Mack lunch because Lucy stepped into Chloe’s role as official meal tracker.  When Lucy came home, the joy Mack had was very clear and he ran up to her.  That was a surprise and we are glad he sees her as part of the “pack.”

The second sketch for the Drawlloween part of Inktober is using “Vampire” as the prompt.  Lucy is going through a heavy teething phase, like the whole time we’ve had her so far.    Lucy’s markings make her look like a bandit, or like she’s wearing mask and the whole teething thing has earning her the nickname of vampire.  Today’s prompt was perfect for a drawing of Countess Lucy.