This is another old piece from 10 years ago that for some reason, never got uploaded to my Yerf gallery, and I recently found it in an old portfolio book I found in a drawer while visiting my parents in Sacramento.

Some of you remember these characters, but for those who don't, they're from my Demolition Dog stories about canine mercenaries. One of the female mercenaries, Antietam the Afghan Hound, has a habit of picking up stray orphans and bringing them back to headquarters, and both Tiera and Brittlestar find themselves more or less rescued from the streets and now being raised by less than stellar adults. Even though there is an age difference of about 5 years between them ( Tiera is 16 and Brittlestar is 11 ), they find they can relate more to one another than the adults, and become very close friends.

I originally created these characters when I was 14, and Brittlestar was based off my 11 year old cousin, Trevor, who wanted to be a character in the stories. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Trevor is now 26! So the original inspiration may have grown, but Tiera and Brittlestar will forever remain displaced youths in my heart.

Anyway, here they are doing some intertubing on the lake. It's August, so it's the perfect time to squeeze in a little more water-play before it's too late! This piece was too large for my scanner and a good portion of it was cut off, so that is why it looks off-center.

Expect more artwork of the two of them. Tiera has also garnered quite a fan following over the years.