this was the first pet portrait I had ever painted. Inspired by the pet portrait shows from previous years on EBSQ, I thought I would give it a try. I painted this dog in the same style as I typically paint my still lifes. In this painting the challenge was to bring the "subject" to life. I felt that if I could capture the feeling in the dog's eyes I would accomplish that. So, I started the painting there and worked my way out. I altered the background color to contrast the dog's sandy fur color and edited some of the content of the original photo to keep the composition simple.