A Boy's Best Friend is His...Dog?

Here's the scenario: Christmas is approaching (okay, fine, it was September, but Christmas was still approaching). You're dating a wonderful young man. You're spending Christmas with his family in Wyoming. You want to give him something meaningful, unique. What do you do? Give him a beer hat? Another University of Oregon sweatshirt (go Ducks)? A certificate of appreciation? No. The trick is to make him a picture of the one thing he might like even more than you: his dogs. 

And, I mean, who would not be completely in love with faces such as those? This picture took a few marathon sessions to paint but overall came out pretty well. Peter was extremely surprised by it. His dad, on a couple of occasions during our visit, attempted to steal it from him. That's pretty much the best reaction you can ask for.

Original photo: 

Yes, they are really that cute. Here's the painting a few steps before completion:

Chase (the black fellow in the back of the picture) was probably the easiest, whereas Ranger (the one in the front) was most difficult, as he has a considerable amount of white fur. And white fur is hard. But I persisted! With the help of Netflix Instant's documentary category. Nothing like a bunch of dudes droning on about art history to help while away the hours. 

The only question is...what to do for next Christmas? How can one top that? A painting of beer? (I can just see it now..."Portrait of Pale Ale"). Know what? I'm not going to start worrying about it till August.