Meet Cookie and Pepper.

These are my family's dogs. We rescued them from the shelter back in 2013. Because they are rescues, we don't really know what breed they are. The shelter said they were both black lab mixes of some sort. When we first got them, many people thought Cookie was momma and Pepper was her baby (Pepper was much slimmer back then), but they are not related. We got both of them simply because they were in the same pen. They have been great companions ever since, bringing us many smiles and laughs.

Quarantine has forced me to explore different activities to engage my mind, take up my time, and make me happy. I bought a couple canvases off of Amazon so I could make painting one of these activities. I do not really have a need for paintings in my house and I don't particularly enjoy usless trinkets lying around, so I knew I was going to be painting gifts for other people. Mother's day allowed me to get a couple canvases off my hands, but I was stumped after that.

Maybe it was a FaceTime call where my family held up Cookie and Pepper for me to see, or a video my sister sent of them being goofballs, but something planted the idea in my head to paint portraits of my dogs, for my dogs. Now I am not an art student, and in no way do I identify myself as an artistic person. However, I am a stubborn, hard-working, perfectionist, so once I got this portrait idea in my head I could not let it go.

I picked 2 pictures I thought I could make a painting out of:

Pepper's picture	Cookie's picture

I sketched on the canveses first, going through a whole eraser until I got them the way I wanted, then took forever trying to paint black dogs and not just black blobs.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised with the way my paintings turned out, so much so that I wanted to share them. Guess it goes to show that if you put your mind to something you really can make it happen.

Pepper's painting	Cookie's painting

I think I might make painting a new hobby now. It is very relaxing and when you're done, you feel accomplished. There is something about creating something with your own brain and hands that is extremly satisfying. Though if I am going to continue to paint I will need to find new muses. Maybe I will paint my pet ball python next?? If you have any suggestions let me know. I'll also have to figure out what to do with my paintings.

Anyways, if there's anything you can take from this post, besides your daily dose of dog cuteness, of course, maybe it is that you can do that activity that you thought was outside of your abilities. If you think it will be fun, go for it! Maybe you will discover a hidden talent. Regardless you will have fun and really that is all that matters. Make some quarantine memories, explore new depths of your soul, maybe, go paint some dogs.