8″x10″, Colored Pencil
I was inspired by my dog Sunny. I took this picture of him on our couch taking a nap after a long day of playing fetch. Sunny is the happiest puppy I know and he is never in a bad mood. He lives up to his name because he is a ray of light wherever he goes. It doesn’t matter what happens because he is happy about it. It reminds me of the scripture found in James 1:2 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”
I began with a watercolor base, used colored pencils to add details, and gouache to highlight. In school, we studied Raphael who used perspective in “The School of Athens”. This close perspective was the most accurate portrait since he typically is right in my face. He is joy.