Now you will see what I can do with a digital painting, still working on the idea for my son, this is Rex, the golden retriever. Based on the Little Man's description, he's being bullied at school, so he looks a bit insecure. It's the beginning of a new school year, so there are lots of crunchy leaves to play in (these dogs go to school). This was created with Sketchbook Pro on my Android tablet (the eyes), and Photoshop on my laptop, using the pentablet tool for brushwork and color tweaking. I used a photo reference when I began painting the dog, and then moved on to add layers and texture to his fur.
Rex, the Golden Retriever, with plenty of leaves to romp in.
Adding some leaves helped give this interest, but the eyes still look wrong, too downcast. I didn't want him melancholy.
The original version of Rex, this was a bit boring with all the plain grass around him, and I didn't like the eyes.