A dog show: LIer's exhibit pictures AKC purebreds

On this particular Monday afternoon, Alan B. Meschkow of Ridge is beginning one of his American Kennel Club breed-inspired dog portraits the way he always does: starting with what he calls “the triangle.”

The triangle is what Meschkow, 77, a former advertising executive and consultant turned later-life artist, calls the dog’s nose and eyes. These facial features are the starting point for the dozens of show dog portraits he’s created over the past four years, including the Cavalier King Charles spaniel he’s currently working on.

“The beautiful part is its very high forehead, its large eyes and very, very cool pug nose,” Meschkow said of the small breed beloved for its gentle nature and family friendliness.

Meschkow is also at work on sketches of rat and cairn terriers and a bluetick coonhound — the latter a dog “with very distinctive eyes.” All will eventually be posted with 150 other dog portraits at pinterest.com/alanmeschkow.

And in July and August, about 40 of Meschkow’s dog portraits are on exhibit at the Longwood Public Library in Middle Island.

Some may see their 70s as a time to (finally) exhale, to pursue hobbies or spend more time reading or traveling. For Meschkow, his eighth decade has brought more of a reset.

“I consider myself redirected, not retired,” he said.

Talent rewarded

Meschkow was born in Brooklyn and his family lived in Jamaica Estates, Queens, until 1953, and then Plainview. He graduated from Plainview High School in 1963. As a child, he said, he often made pencil sketches of cars on loose-leaf paper, thinking he might grow up to be a car designer.

“When I was around 10, I sent General Motors some pictures I had drawn, and they wrote back a nice letter thanking me for my ideas,” he said.

But with a father, uncles and cousins working in plumbing contracting, he said, “I could have very well wound up being a plumber, although I didn’t want to.”

He was saved from what might have been a wrenching decision by winning a full scholarship in 1963 to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he took courses. He also took business courses at Nassau Community College.

“My early art interest was drawing cars, machinery, inventions and mechanical things,” Meschkow said. During the 1960s, he worked as a technical illustrator in the defense industry on Long Island and then as a graphic artist, a career derailed both by 1980s computerization and a “freak tornado” in 1988 that damaged his Plainview studio. Meschkow worked in retail advertising and later as an advertising consultant before retiring in 2004.

His dog portrait project began in 2018, when Meschkow arrived home from a summer morning hike through Blydenburgh County Park in Smithtown with Zara, his whippet, and his son, Heath.

During the walk, Meschkow explained, “We were talking about things I wanted to do, and Heath asked me, ‘Can you still draw?’ ”

The question was answered when Meschkow got home, picked up a pencil and sketched a 1937 Hudson coupe he’d seen on the street.

“It reminded me too much of work, but I had really never done anything with dogs, and there was Zara,” he said. He took some photos of his dog, made a sketch from them and just like that, “the joy of creating a simple piece of art was back.”

“After all those years of tapping my artistic talents for financial gains, a spark went off when I put pencil to paper,” he said.

Layered portraits

The next month he launched a project he’s pursued with dogged determination ever since: drawing a portrait of each of the purebreds recognized by the American Kennel Club, the venerable registry that promotes and sanctions events, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show held in June in upstate Tarrytown. (Meschkow says his project is independent of the AKC, although he doesn’t rule out approaching the club for official recognition in the future.)

“We think it’s wonderful that somebody wants to document the beauty, form and function of our treasured breeds,” said Brandi Munden, AKC vice president of communications and public relations. “We can’t wait to see the results.”

Working 10 sketches at a time, Meschkow is nearing 160 portraits — 40 away from the AKC’s 200 recognized breeds. There may be more, of course, if the AKC continues its tradition of adding breeds to its registry — most recently the Bracco Italiano.

Meschkow begins each portrait by studying photos of dogs that meet the AKC Breed Standard, a description of the ideal dog of each recognized breed. He works with mechanical pencils on Strathmore Bristol, a heavy, high-quality paper with a smooth surface for drawing.

“I work in very light strokes, building layers, one over the other, that create a realistic image that tells you, the viewer, you are looking at something that is looking back at you.”

Each portrait takes six to 12 hours, depending on the detail involved in capturing the breed’s look and temperament. The long-haired dogs, such as the Bergamasco, a large and hairy Italian sheepdog, are the most time-consuming, he said. He estimated the project has taken 400 to 500 hours thus far.

Occasionally, he’ll base a portrait on a single dog, as he did two years ago for family friend Kalena Champlin, 44, of Westbury. While at a restaurant in Florida, Meschkow took a cellphone photo of Champlin’s beagle, Cash, a show dog grand champion and winner of hound group competitions who was sitting under the table.

“It catches Cash’s curious nature,” Champlin said of the sketch. Both Cash and Zara’s portraits are included in the library and online collections.

Florida is where Meschkow and his wife, Gail, a retired elementary school teacher, spend November to May in their high-rise condo in Hallandale Beach, just north of Miami Beach, in Florida. Meschkow golfs, takes his sporty 2007 Pontiac Solstice to car shows, and walks on the beach and nature trails with Zara, who has competed in AKC events.

Finally, an ‘artist’

On Long Island, he and Heath, whose whippet, C.J., is an AKC field and show champion, are active in the Long Island Dog Owners Group, for which Heath regularly leads pack walks at local parks and beaches.

During the past five years, Meschkow has also put his creativity to work for the children of his daughter, Jodi. He’s built an 11-room dollhouse for his granddaughter, Raquel, and a 1/24th-scale auto shop and residence for his grandson, M.J.

And later in July, Meschkow will play mentor to Gen Z, leading a workshop in the basics of dog portraiture for teens at Longwood Public Library.

Meschkow hopes to give the students “a better understanding of what they see when they are looking at something, so they can more effectively draw it” before completing and framing an original sketch. “My intention is to leave them with a memorable experience, some art tips and things that may carry them through their lives,” Meschkow added.

With a second Pinterest page, Magnificent Mugs, dedicated to mixed-breed portraits, Meschkow has plenty on his plate.

“Now that I can say that I am an artist, I am among the lucky who have no need to retire. I can draw what I want, where I want, when I want,” he said.

Two years ago, when he was 75, he drew up a “25-year plan” that he hopes will help him break the record set by Al Hirschfeld, the legendary Broadway caricaturist who worked up until his death at age 99.

Said Meschkow, “I’m in good physical health, and it’s not physically difficult to draw. I can do this until I’m 100.”