This is a Shubunkin Goldfish and her name is Yugameru, Yuga for short. A rare goldfish that actually likes to be hand fed and petted, she can be found in the aquarium of Dine Migliaccio of Squishy Products: http://www.facebook.com/SquishyProducts Dina asked me to draw a portrait of her so that she could frame it :) 

It took me well over 6 months to find what I needed to help me correctly draw an octopus. I searched for around a month trying to find some sort of toy, book, image, stuffed animal... of an octopus that I could pose to help me get the angles right and get the suction cups on the octopus's tentacles right. Those suction cups never came out right every time I tried drawing them, which is why I wanted to physical reference so I could get a good idea of what they looked like close up. Well right before we moved from CT to AL I actually found a toy octopus. Of course, when I wasn't actually looking for one. And, after some practice in my sketch book I transferred the image and actually drew the allusive creature! I added a small clown fish in the background to add some more interest to the picture, to make it seem more dynamic. What do you think? 

And, of course this piece is available as a print if your interested. Click on the link!