Frankie Kiss is a smart, independent, highly spirited dog. He is terrier poodle mix with the playfulness of a poodle, and the stubbornness of a terrier. When his family rescued him, his human papa quickly softened into a real doggy smoocher and furb-lover, who even took shots for months so he could live with Frankie without a sneeze-fest! Frankie is a lucky pup with two loving parents.

Barksdale is a Chow mix with a wonderful personality. I put great love in making this sketch, as both dog and owners are salt of the Earth. His hair and funny little smile were a pleasure to recreate in sketch. I used primarily pencil with very little charcoal.

Friends of Reggie's owner asked for a memorial of this sweet senior dog, who tragically died of cancer this year. He was the love of his parents' lives and will be deeply missed. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr Reggie, but just from his face, I can see his playfulness. For this lil guy, I used more negative space to create the illusion of white shadow and give it an etherial quality, with the focus on Reggie's cute little nose and white hair.

While I was visiting one of my childhood homes in Texas, a friend and I took a day to volunteer at a equine rescue ranch, called Throwaway Ponies. I took some photos for the owner to help spread the word about her charity. When I got home I felt compelled to sketch these two beautiful mares, who had just been rescued the day before. They were frightened and not yet able to trust humans. They still had slaughter tags on their bodies. I cried as I reached out my hand to give them a delicious treat and they stood frozen and shaking in fear, sticking by each others' sides all day for companionship and safety. They didn't know what a treat was. Others, like a mare and her foal, would not leave one another while the mother kept her neck and head protecting her baby constantly, especially when humans came near. They were scared and easily spooked. But these are the lucky ones. There are many that aren't so lucky. Please consider volunteering or donating to your local equine rescue.

This drawing of miss Layla was a last minute birthday present from Michelle for her husband, a couple who live in my building, and was a quick project, taking about a weekend to compose. Layla is a high energy Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix! She loves to play fetch and chase after balls, and she likes to defend her daddy and mommy against other dogs (her bark is bigger than her bite!). In this sketch, I used more negative space to create the illusion of white shadow with the focus on Layla's face and to highlight her primarily white hair. I used more pencil with small portions of charcoal.

Lily (the lab), Dolly (the border collie), and Eme (the chi) were a pleasure to draw. During this composition, I used primarily charcoal and almost no pencil so the technique remains smoother and less 'furry' for our fur-friends. A generous Texas couple commissioned this piece to honor their energetic and much loved canine trio, the three amigos.

This very special piece is in memorium of Peanut, a seeing-impaired sweetheart who sadly passed away. Donor David Smith commissioned this as a gift for Peanut's owner, Melissa. He chose PAWS Chicago as the charity recipient of his donor funds. With each strand of fur I placed and trying to reflect light in her eye in pencil, I felt close to Peanut and that we were helping the memory of Peanut live on. I'm so grateful to have been asked to create this special gift for Peanut's family.

Tucker is a rescued Boston Terrier male, around 2 years old. Because Felix, his loving papa, is a Chicago local, he chose PAWS Chicago as the charity recipient of his donor funds. Tucker was great fun to draw, with so much personality in his face and his wet fur! I took the collar out of the pic and went for the bare doggy neck look. Tucker was climbing out of the pool in the original picture so he excited and happy and full of shiny dogness.

Kit & Charlie are my  furbabies, and were rescued together at PAWS Chicago. Charlie is my little goose, with a playful and totally unique personality with the cutest squeak of a meow. She loves to play fetch! Kit is a tiger striped tabby, who loves for me to crawl and snuggle on the floor with her and loves her treats! HESC was chosen as the recipient of donor funds because of the incredible, hard work they're doing with big cats in Africa. Africa is in desperate need of support from kind-hearted folks, due to the large amount of poachers and hunters doing unthinkable things each day.

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