"Young Schutzhund" - German Shepherd (GSD) Puppy

One last ACEO for April; this one of an adorable young German Shepherd (GSD - German Shepherd Dog) is titled "Young Schutzhund". "Schutzhund" (German for "protection dog") is a K9 sport created to train and evaluate dogs for their abilities in police work, tracking, search and rescue, agility, protection, etc. Schutzhund was created specifically to evaluate GSDs for their skills in these areas, although dogs of any breed can compete. Rottweiler, Belgian Malinois, Belgian Tervuren, Doberman Pinscher and Giant Schnauzer are some of the more common breeds you might see in a Schutzhund competition. I met this handsome guy at a Schutzhund event in Lincoln CA last year - the event was put on by the Placer County Schutzhund Club.


graphite pencil, 2.5" x 3.5" (standard ACEO format)
click on the little Schutzhund to see the auction listing

As an Art for Critters listing, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this drawing benefits Greyhound Friends for Life

This drawing serves double duty - to draw attention to both the Art for Critters and the Dog Art Show (aka K9Art) groups on eBay. I chose to draw this particular breed because it's one of the three breeds for the April Dog Art Show's "Best In Breed" competition. Each month, three dog breeds are chosen for group competition and members create their rendition of the breeds. Click here to see other art by members of this dog-loving group.

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"Chicken in Charge" - Tootsie

Tootsie, a brown leghorn hen, is one of the girls in a small flock of chickens that enjoy life in Stacey Lamothe's world. Stacey is a fellow member of the Auburn Old Town Gallery and she creates wonderful things out of metal. I have a couple pairs of her earrings and a custom bracelet. Click here to check out her work!


The Tootsie drawing has sold and is now in England. But the image is available on a magnet in my CafePress shop - click here to see the nifty cool magnet.

This mini drawing (ACEO format: 2.5" x 3.5") is in ink, watercolor and color pencil on cold-pressed (smooth) illustration board. I titled it "Chicken in Charge" because of the confident look on Tootsie's lovely avian face.

I made a short WIP (work in progress) video of this drawing. Click here to watch it.

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"Alpaca Kiss" - Love & Fiber

My latest ACEO features a tender moment between an alpaca mom & her baby. Alpaca fact: a baby alpaca is called a cria. Alpacas are native to South America and are closely related to llamas. Their fiber (hair/fleece) is used to create yarn which can be made into wonderfully soft scarves, hats, gloves, etc. Anything that can be made from wool yarn can be made from alpaca fiber.


I used watercolor for the underpainting and color pencil (Prismacolor) for the details on this miniature (2.5" x 3.5") painting. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will benefit Sarvey Wildlife Center. Alpaca Kiss has sold and now lives in Maryland.

My thanks to Granny Maple (the Alpaca Granny) of North Star Alpacas for providing the photo that I used for reference. Alpaca yarn and handmade items from Granny Maple are available in her Etsy shop.


This is the original photo.


I took the original photo, flipped the mother alpaca and moved her up to the top of her baby's head. I cropped and sized that to the standard ACEO size and then filled in the background with a photo of a field of yellow flowers, which I interpreted as dandelions. I also added a dandelion to the cria's mouth in the painting .

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"Jolly Boy" - Standard Poodle - New ACEO

This is "Flash", a handsome standard poodle and a very happy guy . . . which would by why I decided to title this drawing "Jolly Boy". I just love that big friendly grin and his shiny button eyes.


Click on Flash to see the eBay auction for this miniature pencil drawing.

I met Flash a few years ago when I was working on an activity book for the Roseville Dog Owners' Group (RDOG). We met at Flash's owner's house to discuss the book.

Click on the image to take a peek at the book, for which I did the illustrations.

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