My friend, interior designer Franca Caserta, never dreamed she would write a book. Then a little rescue dog came into her life, a dog whose adorability saves it from getting reprimanded too loudly for the many scrapes it gets into around Franca’s lovely home. Charli is the rescue pup that Franca says rescued her – and when she started taking pictures of Charli and posting them online with Charli’s thoughts added in, Franca won a lot of hearts, and unwittingly wrote a book about Charli.
Franca had plenty of great photos of Charli when she first spoke to me about the book, so I had good reference to start sketching. She wanted the scenes I drew to be fairly true to the photos with just a little whimsy thrown in, and since it is Charli’s personality that everyone came to love online, I agreed I should stay close to the candid situations in which Franca snapped Charli.
A few pencil sketches below.
Franca’s book is a series of vignettes in this pup’s life, each page a funny little moment in a day, and you can tell Charli has a special place in her heart. I think anyone who owns a rescue dog, or owns a dog that gets into a fix sometimes (I guess that cover any dog owner) will enjoy Charli’s adventures.
At the back of the book Franca has included many photos of the real Charli, so you meet her for yourself. If you’d like to get a copy of The Adventures of Charli, it will soon be available on Amazon.com, but if you are in the Bucks County, PA, area you could stop by The Learning Experience in Doylestown (1715 S Easton Road) on October 10 where Franca will be selling and signing copies of the book from 11 AM to 2 PM.
AchillesPortfolio 
Wonderful! Charli looks like an endearing character to draw. Like to see the photos of him…may have to check out the book on Amazon.co. Love those pencil sketches….and what a cheeky expression, with the newspaper in his mouth. Thanks for sharing…love it all. 🙂
Thank you, Janette! Yes, Charli is an adorable bundle of fun and roguishness, and a delight to draw. The author’s very happy with the book and she’s partnering with a dog shelter, as she is a devoted animal lover, to help promote it.