A sketch to be painted...

Not to start on a sad note but a friend of mine, my best friend actually, recently had to make a very difficult decision. Her dog, a beautiful Italian Greyhound, had gotten very sick and she had to make the heart breaking decision to put her to sleep. I wanted to commemorate the time she had with her beloved and I decided I would try to draw and paint a picture of her Iasbell. I'm not very good at drawing, I can never seem to get the shapes and shading right but so far I think its turning out pretty well. Here is the picture I used:

And here is what I have come up with so far...

I'm just hoping it turns out well and captures Isabell as she was. I'll post the completed project. I know its early but I wanted this to be a Christmas present but if I get it done soon I don't think I'll be able to wait.