Whilst attempting a religious painting in 1996, looking for an Anubis dog sitting bolt upright, I photographed a neighbour's kelpie who, suddenly getting bored, slunk away. Fortunately I had pressed the shutter and captured his wonderfully sinister mix of aggression and fear. If I used it in every painting, unfortunately it would become trite, but sometimes I just can't resist it.

He is also an extremely useful directional compositional device.