Cafe Dog Paintings--the original dogs

I've been an "artist" all my life--I'm sure I was easy to pick out on the playground because I was the skinny kid with glasses buried in my sketchbook with How To Draw Horses book in my lap while most of my classmates volleyed tetherballs back and forth. My dad, who at the time had one year of his MFA under his belt, used to give me assignments when I was bored like, "try painting a painting with only 3 colors and see all the great shades you can mix and create." His passion for his hobby fueled my own creativity. Eventually, he was able to leave his job as a house painter behind and create a successful fine art career. He says that now he looks forward to every day of "work" when he gets to sit and paint giant modern-looking, sculptural flowers for a living. See http:/michaelkuseskepaintings.com and prepare to be blown away. He is really talented...

The dog photo was my inspiration for a line of cafe dogs I painted last summer. Something so silly and interesting about this furry pair captured my attention and I became hooked on painting these guys. I've now painted three paintings based on these two.