One of the best-known portraits in the Western world is Leonardo da Vinci’s painting titled Mona Lisa, which is a painting of Lisa del Giocondo. What has been claimed as the world’s oldest known portrait was found in 2006 in the Vilhonneur grotto near Angoulême and is thought to be 27,000 years old. That’s a pretty amazing fact – and to this day, artists are trying to capture a resemblance of people on canvas. I used to love drawing Native American faces. The older the better, the more wrinkles and lines in their face just told more of a story of who they were and what they stood for. How could you go wrong? Who would ever know…

This is one of my all time favorite pet portraits. Who knew dogs wore dresses – well, I do now! I fell in love with this little dog and felt so much of her personality without ever meeting her in person. Spunky, smart, assertive and definitely a fashion diva.