God, I think this is so perfect! He looks so adorable and you’ve captured the look of him and his character absolutely brilliantly. I couldn’t be happier with it – I absolutely love it! Thank you thank you thank you and may it bring a lot of Hollywood business your way!
Alex

Lucy has recently discovered unexpected joy in capturing simple, honest, life-sized portraits of dogs. She is fascinated by the variety of breeds and the challenge of capturing a true likeness of a much-loved canine is something she has found surprisingly pleasing. “You know when you’ve done a good job when the owner wipes away a tear or claps their hand to their mouth. I have been called a witch, which I find kind of pleasing too, I suppose bringing a drawing to life is a special kind of magic.”

Taking her own photographs is essential, her work begins by using the camera to plot the right composition, the right light and a pose that is intrinsic to the character of the animal. Whether capturing the moment an animal first looks up and takes in its observer before it moves away, or a dog sitting in its own characterful slump, an exchange of looks between dog and owner, It is about summing up its essence, its anima, as the Italians would put it, and leads to many interesting encounters with dog and their owners.

With just a stretched piece of pristine Fabriano paper, a stick of burnt, compressed wood, sharpened chalk and a finely cut rubber, Lucy sets to work in her studio creating work, which carries quite a responsibility. “The challenge being to encompassing texture, breath, light on a wet nose, a breath of wind ruffling and beams of light illuminating fur, feather and hide, soul, memory, recognition, majesty of a much-loved animal and family member.”

If you are interested in commissioning Lucy please contact her: lucyboydell@live.com / 07786 560485 for a chat.

Prices from £2,000.

When we moved to Norfolk, we saw Lucy’s art hanging in a lot of restaurants and people’s homes and knew we had to have one for ourselves.  The opportunity presented itself for an Anniversary present where I commissioned Lucy to draw our dog Marmite for us.  It is quite simply breathtaking and I can almost reach into the picture to stroke him.  From there, we have been recommending and commissioning her ever since.  Lucy also drew my beloved dog Boris and he will remain immortal forever – every bit of his character oozes out of the picture and I struggle to believe sometimes that it is actually drawn. Lucy has unbelievable talent and everyone who comes into contact is mesmerised by her and her art – we can not  recommend her highly enough.
Philippa