"Annie", by Kerry McFall

I’ve always thought that dogs smiled, real smiles without agendas,  without premeditation, just in-the-moment ain’t-life-grand smiles.  Case in point: Annie.  Although to be perfectly honest, in this sketch she looks like she might have just heard someone say the word, “ball”…

Kayla Byers, one of her people, took the original photo and gave me permission to sketch  “the smile”.  And since I’ve never really drawn a dog before, this is the first time I realized what weird lips they have, like they were cut out with pinking shears on the sides!  Next time I draw a dog, I’ll see if I can figure out the anatomy of that odd tongue attachment on the bottom jaw, too… didn’t quite get it this time.

This was done with my new brush pen, colored pencil, and watercolors, then tweaked just a little bit in Photoshop to add the highlights to her eyes.