An unremarkable dog.

This little chap came to me by way of a commission. He was short-legged and bright of eye with curly ears. I asked his owner to tell me something of his background and this is his story.

He was found, as a tiny puppy, on the walking trail between Cuzco and Macchu Picchu, in Peru. The man who found him on the trail picked him up and brought him back to the United States, where he gave the puppy to the daughter of a friend. Macome, for that was the puppy’s name, grew up beside a Springer Spaniel and became outgoing, bouncy and very, very friendly. But, in the looks department, he wasn’t going to win any prizes. So when I started drawing him and wanted to make him special, I suddenly saw’ him for who he really was and was excited to draw him in his birthplace. I did a lot of research about the stray dogs in Cuzco and a few of them looked like Macome, but most were just typical strays – all well fed however, because the people of Cuzco feed them and regard them as their neighbors. Then I found out that when Macchu Picchu was inhabited, there were royal lineages and the king was known as ‘Sapa Inca’ or the King of Inca. So, needless to say, I bestowed the title on this Peruvian transplant and now, despite his diminutive size and plain looks, he is the King of the Inca. A unremarkable, but rather special dog.