Dog sketches - Miki

Over recent months, I've ended up with a collection of sketches of our new dog, Miki. Miki is a really interesting looking little guy that we think may be part Chihuahua and Shibu Inu. He's not as small as a Chihuahua but he has those buggy eyes. His ears are really large so that sometimes, he looks like an arctic fox. He's a rescue dog and was listed as an American Eskimo mix. We looked up Inuit words and decided to call him miki, which, according to the internet, means small ice flow.




When he's awake, he doesn't stay still for very long, so I have to have several sketches going at the same time, hoping that he'll return to a pose I've already started to sketch.

It's easier to draw him while he's sleeping, but, of course, he usually settles into the same sleeping pose, so I end up with a lot of very similar compositions.

Osa

This is our very sweet dog Osa. She's such a good dog that she actually sat for this drawing. I had to talk to her constantly but she patiently sat for about 15 minutes for me to get most of this down.

Osa was rescued from some kind of terrible farm/puppy mill where most of the animals were neglected. Some had died. She was taken better care of, apparently, because she was a breeding female. She had 2 litters before she was 2 years old, which is how old she was when we got her. She was underweight and her coat was raggedy and the slightest noise or unexpected movement would send her flying, at first. She rarely left my side.

We've always had dogs and they've always been good dogs (except Cooper, but that's another story), but Osa takes the cake on goodness. She learns quickly and has always been very obedient. It took about 3 or 4 years to coax her out of her shell but she has blossomed into a great companion. I can't believe she's 7 years old already.