Kobi and I went for a long walk this morning in the Quinpool area to enjoy the amazing weather. Kobi walked loosely most of the way until we went on a side street he hadn't been on before and the smells were overwhelming for him.
On the way back we stopped out in front of St. Pats (now the Quinpool Educational Center) and just sat, Kobi laid in the grass. We stayed for about 5 mins just to work on him being settled with people walking by and lots of noise from the traffic.
We also went to Canadian Tire since I needed a rain suit for motorcycle training this year (don't want to be a drowned rat every other day like I was last year). Canadian Tire was great! Normally he is a bit tense and if people walk by with carts or we round a turn with a person there unexpectedly he barks. All of that happened today and not a sound! He even gladly met of some the surprise people and most of them were men! Once in line he still remained calm and quiet.
After Canadian Tire I stopped at the bank to get some change for work, again the bank can be a hit or miss place, he's had some great stops at the bank and some not so good ones. The line was busy and there were some balloons tied to the banisters which he was clearly nervous of but he still stayed calm, he just did not want to touch them or be near them. A young man came up behind us in line (and he was really tall, usually something that bothers Kobi). This boy could tell he didn't like being toward over so he knelt down and let Kobi meet him and Kobi cuddled right up with him! He was clearly torn between love and attention and treats from me. A couple of other men in the line pet him as well, but the tall boy was clearly Kobi's favourite. Once we got to the counter Kobi put him front feet up to get his treat from the teller than sat quietly while I did my banking.
He also walked perfectly on the rest of the way home and didn't need a single treat to stay there.
I'm constantly amazed with the progress we're making. I'm learning that so long as I have zero expectations of him and stay calm and confident and keep a close eye on his body language, he usually does just fine.

Hopefully next time I'll bring my camera and might be able to get a couple of shots.
In the meantime, enjoy a pooped Kobi!

Green Goblin Pencil Sketch

Last week I was commissioned by an old friend to design a drawing based around this image.









She was looking to have the image turned into a design for some paint ball jerseys, but she wanted the whole head and a finished picture rather than just the face. Her request was to add in hit head/hat, some of hi neck and chest, replace the torn edge with broken glass and make it look like he was reaching out.



So this is what I came up with.

And here is the finished product. I always find it weird looking back on outlines I've done, that I'm able to read them like a map and know what goes where and turn an image of nonsensical lines into a realistic image with perspective.

I am really happy with how this turned out. I was really worried once I got the face done because I had no more reference images. I have a good understanding of light and perspective but to try to add loosely referenced components onto a per-exisitng image is difficult. It is very easy to make it obvious that parts don't belong, or have something that just seems... off. I'm a visual artist so I need reference material, I'm creative but I'm not imaginative, I find it hard creating things and being able to translate what's in my head to the paper, but somehow I managed to do it this time! And I think I did it rather well. Aside from maybe the fingers, nothing seems like it doesn't belong, it looks cohesive and it looks like that was what the image was all along.