Ben Kilt

This is a painting I created yesterday, Mothers Day here in the UK.
It was painted for a very special dog 'mum and dad' .

Lynne and Stuart loved Ben so much, he was a part of their wedding day. This watercolour and ink was from one of the wedding photographs.
Sadly, early last week, Ben was found to have multiple cancerous tumours. Lynne and Stuart lost their beloved dog. They had seen him through sudden onset spinal injury, got him the best care and saw him walk again. He was a well travelled dog, going on many holidays with them both.
There are a raft of happy memories of the much loved Ben.
I hope this painting will become another.

Ben 

Love, Actually

A little while ago I made a pencil portrait called Manifestly, Love. 
It was a portrait of my friend, Lynne and her dog, Ben.

Today I show you the other half of the portrait, which features Stuart and Ben.

I'm going to frame these two pencil drawings and give them to Lynne and Stuart as their wedding present.

Eminently fitting for  Manifestly, Love and Love, Actually.

Love, Actually

Manifestly, Love

I don't think this pencil drawing needs any explanation .. it is....

Manifestly, Love

This picture will have a permanent place in my Gallery Site, 

Pat Elliott Paintings (click to visit)

Never Grows Old.

It never grows old - what on earth could I be talking about?

Well, you all know how much I love dogs.
There's one special dog who is very dear to my heart, though I've never met him.
He is called Ben, and he lives with Lynne, Stuart and Toots.

Back in 2009, Ben's back legs stopped working - he suffered from Sudden Onset Spinal Injury.
He couldn't have had better owners - Lynne and Stuart went through hell and high water to get him better.
I have painted him once before, here.. "Still Standing" 

- recently though, I saw Lynne post a picture of Ben running through some fields - and I had to paint this one. :)  It never grows old watching this dog run and play. It could have been so different, you see.  Now he's grinning and happy and all that a dog should be. God bless you, Ben. And Lynne, Stuart and Toots, too :)

About the painting: W&N artist watercolour, Arches Aquarelle Rough 140g, size 15x11. Style - Impressionistic. 

Never Grows Old

Still Standing

Here's the finished painting of Ben, called :

Still Standing

This painting will be added to my permanent gallery site
Pat Elliott Paintings


The title was inspired by Sir Elton John's song "I'm Still Standing" because the words of the song mean so much when viewed from Ben's perspective of being paralysed and then recovering.

In Lynne's own words:

Love it and LOVE the title - Elton John's still standing says it all too.
" Still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor feeling like a little kid" it just sums it up perfectly as he was like a little kid with all that sea and sand. Yayyyyyyyyyy

Ben - part three

The sky is now painted in - the next step will be painting Ben - which will all be done in one go and not in stages.

This is because he's not a portrait close up, so I shan't be stopping between the small washes.

Ben - part two

Ben is now a happy healthy dog and he thoroughly enjoys his holidays where he can play in the sea and the sand.


The painting is progressing with the beach painted and some water too .

Ben's Story

Ben is a beautiful Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, owned by Lynne and Stuart.
They adore him - and when Ben sustained a sudden onset spinal injury, which left his back legs paralysed - they pulled out all the stops to get him better.



To read all about Ben, canine spinal injury, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy -then click here

Keep following the blog as I post the stage by stage to the painting of Ben.