Wanting to Paint Dogs

"Please Play Ball", pastel pencil

It was around this time I started having a craving to paint my dogs.  So out comes my pastel pencils, and you can see my first attempt--"Please Play Ball".  It was so enjoyable and fun to do.  I think that is when my "inner self" was telling me what direction to take.  Every time I would come across the referance photo, there was this---paint me, paint me, like what I mentioned in my last post.  I would also like to add an extra comment on that post.  Upon reviewing it, I had an insight I had not thought about before.  The first drawing, "Melissa Rodgers", was from a family photo, a grandmother,--I do not have any childhood memories of her.  The second drawing, "Athene"(my mother), was done from her sitting for our drawing group--in person.  The third drawing, "Ryan", is a grandson.  I took the photo at a family birthday party(I had to draw that smile!!).  I can definitely see the difference between all three, based on my involvement with the subjects.  Just had to throw in this little bit of artsy "ahaa"(light bulb turning on).  Keeping that in mind will take us to my next post--how I came up with "Paint What You Love"