Cezar and Bella, Marine Working Dogs

On September 12th, while we were still in port, we had a chance to meet and sketch some MWD, or Military Working Dogs, which were part of the 24th MEU on the USS Bataan (LHD-5).

We met Cpl Sunsette Winsler, and her tracker dog "Bella," and LCpl James Nemger, and his IED dog, "Cezar II."

We photographed them as they sat with the dogs and tried to have the dogs sit for us as we sketched. We sketched as good and as fast as we could, and had moderate success. What started as a dog portrait session quickly turned into a rapid draw gesture drawing session, where the sketches became more like impressions than portraits! But I think we captured a bit of the personalities of the dogs, if not the exact likeness!

Cpl Winsler and Bella