This pup was the latest in my commissioned pet portraits. She proved to be a bit harder than my last two. I really haven't worked with those deep dark tones. Layering the lead was definitely the key. It was also a challenge recreating the eyes. As you can see, the photo I was going off of gave her red eye. What I ended up doing was looking up images of similar dogs with their head at that angle, and trying to recreate that glare. Overall I am absolutely ecstatic about the way it came out, as was Emma's owner! And THAT, is what will always keep me going!