A week ago I decided to draw a Valentines Day Card for my wife inspired by our dog Scamp.

I did an initial sketch using Neopaint (no tracing of photographs here) and then moved it to Xara and used the Pen, Straight Line and Shape tools to get the pen-and-ink effect. I used the Text tool as well , of course, and although I don't use the effects a lot the Shadow tool came in handy.

In the end I didn't get a complete likeness - but I was happy with the final result.

Here's the card:
Click image for larger version.  Name: valentine2.jpg  Views: 161  Size: 107.3 KB  ID: 100695

And here's what Scamp looks like in real life:
Click image for larger version.  Name: Scamp.jpg  Views: 155  Size: 9.1 KB  ID: 100696