Making of "Rad"

This was a word for word back and forth I overheard between J and our oldest.  I'm unsure of the year, but judging by the way he's talking, he must have been 2-3ish?  They were lying on their tummies in our bed, kicking their feet up in the air and watching something on the iPad.  They looked like a couple of 90s teenage girls chatting on the phone.  J was fully engaged and sincere; loving every minute of talking to his little boy.  It was absolutely adorable!

The conversation has been sitting in my notes ever since.  I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to use it, Vincent seemed too old and Cooper too young, but then along came the Dog Kid (name TBD) who's vocabulary lies somewhere between the two.

I can't quite explain why, but it was important to me that I kept the feminine vibe.
There was something so sweet about the juxtaposition of the girlie setting with such a boyish conversation.  I thought them lying in bed might look a bit weird, but then I remembered this piece I did years ago:

As you can see, I have a thing for large, scary characters sitting in tiny chairs having tea parties!  Dog Dad would fit right in!  

Sketching out was easy enough, although midway through I decided to add an extra panel to lengthen his pause at the end to lead you to believe he's about to say something else.

The real work began once I started tightening up the linework.  I hadn't realized how comfortable I'd become with the cat family!  When something is off with them (arm too short or eyes too small) I can usually spot it straight away.  The dogs however -they are a bit alien to me!  I had a hell of a time getting Dog Dad's head to turn and to keep him on model in all the panels.  Time and time again I'd refer back to the original drawing and have to resize his hands or lengthen his neck.  Then after all that, I almost forgot to put his tattoo's on!  I love him, but boy, is he a pain to draw! :)