I must admit that the most fun I have as an artist is doing portraits of people's pets.  This beautiful Goldendoodle lives down at the Lake of the Ozarks, with her best friend who adores her.  I love doing pets in pastel on velour paper.  There is a wonderful texture that happens on this paper and the luminescence of the pastel medium lends itself divinely to the fur of animals.

The only drawback when using this substrate is that it is much less forgiving than my kitty wallis paper.  So, that usually means more planning and careful placement of strokes so I don't build up and fill the tooth too quickly.

One of my neighbors has a great time watching me wack the back of my pastels on my front porch pillar to knock off any excess dust.  It took me a couple times to explain my madness but now he just laughs and says "another one done, huh?" It's nice to have an understanding with your neighbors so they don't call the loony bin people for you.

So, now I only have five more to do before Christmas---- no problem.
Have a great day and Happy painting,
Jennylynne