Three faces of the season.

How cute is this little girl? She's carefully cleaning her paw. Or is she? Caption competition?

 

Sometimes I have to wait to after Christmas to share what I have been up to with some furry friends. Such is the case with these three lovelies. 

So good to be asked to do a rat again. I will always love rats and value them as pets as well as subjects!

 

A girl Yorkie and a boy with the best nose ever are this years delightful dogs. 

 

I can't wait for the new year to begin. It's going to be a good one. I think 2016 held a lot of challenges. How was it for you? 

Facing up to it - 17

I hope you had a nice Christmas? Just before the big day I had another toothy appointment and had my mouth festooned with Christmas colours and some extra free hardware. With the bottom row now also in STEEL it was time to close that gap I mentioned last time! I repeat, all NiTi arch wire is gone!

I have extra hooks crimped onto the wire at both sides, and then L produced some tiny elastic on fine wires, one red and one green. She seemed very pleased with my gnashers.

On the 31st January I will have some more impressions taken to check to see just how surgery ready I am. I see a date for surgery in 2017 then! I'm always amazed at how juicy those bands appear when photographed up close! Happy Boxing Day! Xx

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

 

The tree is up, I'm smashing chestnuts and school's out. Everything's looking and smelling very festive. But what's that on the sofa? Could it be a new furry addition to The Raggy Rat? Yes, that's two year old Ash, and this is his first Christmas in a family home. He seems to be taking it in his (long) stride .... 

Best Compliment Ever ...

Well I don't very often draw people but when I do it's often for a really good friend! J asked me to draw her son so that she could surprise her parents, and presented me with this amazing photo which shows real cheeky character and I accepted the challenge! I also usually draw non furry faces in monochrome and J was happy with that. 

I chose to take out the seatbelt and therefore the sling since I couldn't see how the sling looked at the top. As I fashion my portraits in white-space the seat belt was going to look too prominent in the picture. If you draw portraits your self you will know how important the eyes are and in this photo our young man has a very distinctive highlight which I worked hard to get right. The eyes, and the shapes of our nose and lips are what makes us unique. Get these slightly wrong and your picture doesn't look like the person. 

Well I completed the portrait and waited for the time when J would present it to her parents, and after that I shared it to my Facebook page where Mum proudly shared it, writing something that made my day. She said, "the artist is so good I can't tell it apart from the photo. And she has captured my grandson's spirit of fun", and that's probably one of the best compliments ever!