Book about Pirates, something to do with Angels, kids in a marketplace drawing portraits that depict people as their true character

Question

I have a very vague memory of this book about pirates. I'm pretty sure there was something to do with Angels, might have been in the title. Other than that just that there's some young kids as the protagonists, and a particular scene where they're in a marketplace, and one of the kids is drawing portraits of people's faces and they're really good at it, but some of the customers get mad because the portraits depict them as their true character which can sometimes be unflattering.

Answer 1

I think this is The Angel's Command, part of a trilogy by Brian Jacques, following Castaways of the Flying Dutchman and preceding Voyage of Slaves.

• "Angel" in the title - tick.
• All three books feature pirates to one extent or another, but the first half of The Angel's Command is specifically a pirate yarn, set largely on three pirate ships in the Caribbean (captained respectively by a Frenchman who's a nice guy, Raphael Thuron, an Englishman who's a privateer, Redjack Teal, and a Spaniard, Rocco Madrid).
• The main characters are a boy, Ben, and a black labrador dog, Ned. The two are telepathically linked and immortal, due to having been on the Flying Dutchman when it was cursed by the titular angel, but they partially escaped the curse (didn't have to remain on the ship) due to being innocent souls. The books describe their travels through the world, never staying in one place for long as their lack of ageing would be noticed. The Angel's Command is split into two halves, the first set in the Caribbean and the second set a couple of centuries later in rural England.

• "I can always make money at country fairs," bragged Karay. [...] "How d'you earn your living? By selling things?"

  For answer, Dominic opened his worn leather satchel. He produced charcoals, chalks, a slender steel file with a broken tip and some pieces of slate. "I make faces." [...] He talked as he sketched. "Nobody ever taught me, I was born with the skill to draw. I come from Sabada in Spain, but I was banished from there when I was very young. Hmm, this is an interesting dog."

  Ned's thought reached Ben. "I'll say I'm interesting - noble and handsome, too. Told you I liked Dominic-"

  Ben interrupted the dog's thought. "Why were you banished?"

  Dominic concentrated on his portrait as he answered. "They were ignorant people, but sooner or later I am driven from anyplace I go. People think I am a magician, and they get scared - I don't blame them. My pictures are like no others. When I draw the likeness of anybody, man, woman or child, the truth is in my picture. I cannot help it - good, evil, deceit, envy, love, tenderness or cruelty. All of these things show up in my work, it is as if I can see into the very heart and soul of those whom I sketch."

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How I found the answer: there's not much to say really. An Angel in the title of a book about pirates with young kid protagonist(s) immediately put me in mind of this series. I dismissed the thought as a coincidence at first, as I didn't remember the character drawing true portraits, but then I went searching through Google Books and found the above-quoted passage which was enough to clinch it.