Finally! Finally someone asked me to paint them an ark. I tell you, it is about d*mn time! All I do is sit and draw smiley faced animals all day long (and work Rochelle, I swear!) and wait for someone to see them all and say, "you know what would be a good project for you..." And finally someone did!! Grandma-to-be Sheila hired me to paint this ark in her son & daughter-in-law's nursery in New Hampshire for Baby Sam who's due later this winter. I started with the sketch:

And after a quick peak at that Gramma decided we'd add an elephant, some ducks, a couple of dolphins and some lobsters for good luck! Here it is before the giraffes poked their heads through:

And after seen here with Steph (and technically Baby Sam):

Here are some close-ups of my favorite characters:

**progress pictures here: www.kodakgallery.com/mandeepaints/main/noah_s_ark **