This particular painting may not make the front page of any of the Christmas cards. Dakota's ears and eye patches are extra tricky -- he's got black and brown smudges that only look good with just the right combination of a damp blacken brush over damp brown on the paper. Timing is everything. One ear (his left) turned out okay, but the right ear and the eye patch got a little washed out.

However, the picture isn't that bad, so I may shrink the image and use or for the back of the card or something like that. The pose took a while to develop. I didn't get the right posture the first few tries, but after I corrected the arms and tilted his head, everything looks a lot better.

"God rest ye merry gentlerabbits that nothing you dismay...remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day..."