Rosita Conchita Morita

Here's a study for my nieces' pet chihuahua Rosita. Since my niece Lauren is holding her she looks oddly placid when in fact she's a typical nutty chihuahua that moves quicker than a pickpocket. I'm going to do a painting of her and anticipating the challenge of doing her white face that is mainly in shadow. What's life without a challenge? It will serve to hone my technical chops. At least that's what I keep telling myself. 

Study for Daisy

I'm starting a portrait of Daisy, who belongs to Ed and Niamh.  All my paintings begin with sketches as this gives me a chance to get an understanding of construction and proportions. It's like taking some practice swings or warming up. Some things also require a little more studying to figure out, like animal's noses. Because they're totally unlike a human's, I had some difficulty with them initially but I'm feeling comfortable with them now.  Gee, that makes me think of  a dog loogie story...