Two Little Coton deTulears

This is Max on the left and Allee on the right.  They are Coton de Tulears and are what I am working on currently.  I got to meet these two little fireballs and fell in love with them instantly.  They're very active but also very, very sweet.

I'm using various pastels and pastel pencils on PastelMat from Clairefontaine for this portrait  Although I've worked on the PastelMat in the past and was beginning to like it, it has a little quirk that just popped up with this painting that I really don't like.  It dents very easily and the dents are hard to cover.  I used my Jack Richeson semi-hard pastel square sticks/and pastel pencils for sketching the two dogs and I had to bear down quite a bit in order for the color to show.  This dented the surface of the paper and it's been very difficult to cover.  Also, using the pastel pencils in the eye area for instance has also left "furrows" in the base of soft pastel and on into the paper.  The only way I've been able to cover them is to use the very hard white pastel stick that I received in the Derwent samples not too long ago. 

I guess it could just be this particular piece or maybe even color of PastelMat as I hadn't noticed this happening the other times I've used it. 

Anyway, it's going pretty well and I got so involved in working on it that I forgot to stop and take any photos of the progression.  It's still not finished as you can see so I'll try to be a little better about photos as I go. 

And, no, Christine, I don't have the eyes completely finished yet but I did add a little highlight in Max's eye just for you!  lol