Lulu's Smile

Had the time of my life painting this sweet rescue dog named Lulu that a friend of mine had adopted. I used soft pastel on pastelbord, beginning with the eyes first. I always begin with the eyes so I can establish a "relationship" with the animal or person that I'm painting. After drawing the eyes I work from the top left corner down to the bottom right, adding layers of pastel. I spray Lascaux at the end to fix the particles before framing. Although somewhat large, this painting quickly came together in about 2 hours time. I believe it came about so quickly because I was simply painting for the joy of creating!