I’ve been working on a relative’s dog’s portrait. It’s on 9x12 pastelmat. Still long way to go but here’s my progress so far! 
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Look how cute! 
The nose is looking so realistic, can’t wait to see the finished piece! 
This is looking great. I really love the eyes and mouth.
Terri Robichon
Doing great! You have his expression down
Sonia,
What a wonderful job you have done. The mouth is so real! I always tend to shy away from open mouths, not confident enough to attempt the teeth tongue and shadows needed to make the mouth so realistic.
Really nice jog. Will be waiting to see this one finished,
Teri
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Another progress post. I will change the grass’ texture to a more “chunky” one. I tried the Marsh landscape technique 
… not feeling it… critiques welcome. It’s a little challenging trying to draw the fur realistically when reference photo has the fur out of focus.
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Sonia, I’m loving this! The eyes are incredible. Can’t wait to see when you’re finished.
Brenda
Looking great. I think you my not have to do much more with the fur other than adding a bit of contrasting values as light hair lines at the color/value transitions. I can see them on the dog. They are subtle. Just look a little smooth compared to texture of grass. My eyes go to that texture quickly as I look at the drawing, so fur texture on dog may be overpowered by grass texture (which I also think is done well). Love the personality of the dog. Hope this helps. Look at difference of fur around eyes compared to tip of nose. Subtle diffence, but that is what I was referring to as a subtle addition. Very minor tweaks.
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Thank you @lenetg137
I appreciate your input so much. I will check those areas and work them. I’ll probably finish it by next weekend, then post it.
I’m going to attempt starting the live distortion lesson, I can’t stand not being part of the crowd posting their progress. Although I look at the live lessons posts, I’m missing the fun of trying it!
Sonia
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The current live lesson is really challenging me, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m finding it’s better for me to watch and chat live and do the drawing after the lesson is posted. Please join in!!
Brenda
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Worked on the values as you suggested, i think the dog it’s done. I will add foreground grass and maybe a wispy faraway cloud.
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I’m glad you showed the revisions. A little tweak . Made a huge difference. The dog now looks more real and doesnt compete with the background.
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Thank you! 
It’s a gift for my sister in law and her husband. I shall fix the other stuff that jumped at me as soon as I posted picture here haha
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I really really love this, Sonia!
Brenda
All done! Except for those things I will see after I stay away from it for a couple of days…
Critiques welcomed 
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Sonia I feel like this pup could walk right out of that piece of paper!!! Well done!
Brenda
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Hello Sonia, thank you so much for sharing your absolutely fabulous artwork.
I love this piece because it captures the innocence of an animal which makes us human feel so precious and comfortable with.
The expression of the dog plays the biggest role in conveying the innocence, but the composition in which the dog pokes his/her head, just like cats headbutt demanding to be pet, enhances the effect I think.
As to possible improvements, I would make some changes like the following digitally edited version:
a. Darken the neck and chest slightly to indicate the depth in that area.
b. Lower the horizontal line to avoid the straight line being made with the dog’s ears.
c. Change the shape of at least one of the ears to make a bit of movement in the drawing and to take a reasonable balance between the top and bottom. Without this change, the sky part would become almost a flat rectangular and the bottom part of the drawings would feel heavier.
Hope these suggestions make sense.
Congratulations on completing such a lively and cheerful portrait!
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Dear @Maki,
Thank you so very much for your suggestions which I will totally take into account. As much as I agree with you about the ear, I’m afraid I will leave it alone because it seems overwhelming and nerve racking to me to change, even if I used your digital sample as reference. I will definitely do everything else and post it here. Thanks a million for your input….
Sonia
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Thank you Brenda! I still have lots to learn but I am happy with it, minus the tweaks needed.