This is one of a series of small scale paintings and drawings of dogs that I’ve created for exhibitions over the past few years. This one depicts my favorite studio companion, a 10 pound creature who happily napped on my lap for most of the underpainting process. I have a deep and abiding love for 17th century Northern European art and 1930s popular media like comics and animation. The little dog heads allow me to combine the two and are a welcome respite from some of the more involved work I’ve made over the years. That, and they often make people smile and laugh, which makes the labor of making them feel worth it.