I've also become infatuated with painting and drawing my rat, Chunky. He's quite the ham and seems to enjoy me putting a camera in his face daily. I wish I could draw him directly from life, but he won't sit still for a second. If I try to catch him while he's sleeping, he senses my presence and proceeds to sniff at me and get excited. He's very cute, though.
This is my rat.
This is a painting I did of my rat.
His face.
His foot. 