I get by with a little help from my friends.

I have a beautiful, curly red-hair nephew named Owen, who's about a year and a half old (or will be soon).  Knowing how much love I have for him and how grateful I am that he arrived without hiccups, complications, or any unexpected hurdles, I truly can't imagine what it would've been like any other way.

One of my best friends has a friend that hasn't been as lucky, and has had her fair share of trouble trying to start a family with her husband.  I won't get into all of the details (both because they're not mine to share and because I don't want to inaccurately tell her story), but after some pretty severe losses, this happy couple is now on the journey towards adoption.   This is one a few projects that's come my way lately where a friend or friend-of-a-friend is in a rough patch and needs some help, and I'm a strong believer that we get by with a little help from our friends.  I've been there before and will be there again.

They sent me a few photos of themselves and their dogs and asked for some help creating a sketchy illustration of themselves, I think for an adoption book cover.  As far as I understand, a "choose us!" book for birth mothers to look through.  

I've sketched myself plenty, but when it comes to drawing other girls, guys, and dogs, it took some practice.  I think I used half a roll of trace trying to figure out how to draw wavy hair, let alone a beard.  

Here are some progress shots and the final - hope this helps, because these guys could use some good favor and any breaks that come to them in the near future!

**Update : this is the Jordans' fundraising page to help fund their adoption if you feel like sharing some love (and money) :)  

my 1000th layer of trace paper.

moving onto the real stuff...

adding in some (water)color

then flattening it for a few days.

the final result!

good luck to these guys!