Barry Ross, 40, of Schererville, Ind., is an insurance agent who has combined his love of animals and his talent for art into an extra career, sketching and painting pets, as well as people.
Q. Did you take up art recently, or is it a lifelong interest?
A. I’ve been drawing since I was 4 or 5 years old. The last few years, I’ve been painting in oils. I love art. I just look at it as a gift. Before 1989, I was doing pastels only, and a gallery owner said, “Why don’t you try oil painting?” so I did.
Q. What inspired you to do animal portraits?
A. I’ve been drawing animals as a business since 1985. I always have loved drawing animals, and we have a cocker spaniel at home, and that was kind of my inspiration.
Q. What’s your favorite animal subject?
A. I love dogs. They’re my favorite living creatures. They’re your best friend. I love tigers. That’s my favorite cat. There’s a taxidermy shop where I go to see different animals.
Q. How do you get the animals to stay in one place for a portrait?
A. The owner does that. When you have a live sitting, you have to do a pencil sketch. The better way is to do the portrait from a photograph. You can get more detail. I can use just one photo that the owner is happy with.
Q. Do the animals ever get aggressive when you’re drawing them?
A. That hasn’t happened. The owners are there with them. You just have to be patient.
Q. What other subjects inspire you?
A. I paint oil portraits. My favorite is a painting of three famous black women, civil rights activist Septima Clark, dancer Katherine Dunham and actress Cicely Tyson. It’s called “Dignity.” I had prints made of that. A lot of people just like it without knowing who the women are. People say the older woman reminds them of their grandmother.
Q. Are you working toward a full-time art career?
A. That’s my ultimate goal when I retire. The way I look at it, it is a gift from God, and if you don’t use your gifts, you lose them.