Bradley's personality
On receiving Jeanette’s write up of Bradley I had to chuckle. He sure did have a unique personality! Here are some fun facts I learnt about him:
- Favourite food: Mayonnaise (although it has to be Hellman’s!) Turkey slices also go down a treat – the wafer-thin ones though, nothing too chunky.
- Favourite hobby: Birdwatching
- Favourite toy: ‘Bunny’ – his dearest possession that he regularly practises ‘killing’. (It’s a love-hate relationship!)
Bradley is very much a people kind-of cat. He follows his family around everywhere, like a little shadow. He takes his role as household supervisor very seriously, and has to closely monitor all activity, whether its bed making or dinner prepping. If ‘Dad’ is away with work, Bradley will keep a watchful eye on ‘Mum’ at night-time by lying on top of her (although on occasion he’s drifted off and woken up on the floor!) He also likes to keep his humans physically fit, so every now and then he’ll take them for walks around the garden using his lead. Bradley has his humans very well trained; they know to keep all windowsills in the house free of clutter, so that he can park his backside there for birdwatching duties.
Showing off Bradley’s best features
As well as capturing Bradley’s special personality in the portrait, Jeanette was keen that the drawing showed off her favourite features of him. She told me how she loves his thick coat, and the way his fur parts to give a crackle-like texture. She loves the fine wisps of fur on the top of his ears. And, of course, his incredible eyes. We also discussed how Bradley’s fur colour appears quite different in some photos than others. In certain lighting, he looks much bluer than he actually is. Jeanette sent me some photo references to show that his true fur colour is a much warmer tone.
We discussed multiple options for the composition of Bradley’s portrait, and found a reference photo that captured him perfectly. We decided on a full body portrait to show off his glorious thick coat. As Jeanette was short on wall space, an 8 x 10-inch portrait would be the perfect size.
