ARTISTS have been offering sneak peaks of some of the first snowdogs to be completed for an exciting new art trail.

Brighton artist Louise Dear, whose clients include Sir Elton John and Rick Stein, was asked to decorated two of the giant sculptures which will line the streets of Brighton and Hove next month.

After hours, they emerged in their final form last week and were just awaiting a final coat of gloss before they were ready to head out onto the street.

The 1.5 metre models she designed were sponsored by Donatello and Dockerills.

Playing on the Donatello restaurant's Italian heritage, one of the dog designs is inspired by actress Sophia Loren and is called Crush Puppy, named after her studio in Church Street.

The other is called Dudley and wears DIY dungarees. While his full look is being kept top secret, he is named after the dog owned by the family which runs Dockerills hardware store in Church Street, Brighton. The rest of his design will have this theme in mind but is being kept under wraps.

Louise, 52, said: "I designed a model for the elephant parade in London before and I was quite keen to take part in something like this again.

"It is great to have such a different canvas to work on. There is plenty of glitter and gold in there. I worked with a lot of different materials like acrylic paints. It took the entire six weeks I had, my nails are completely worn down and I am exhausted. I'm really pleased with them and hope people like them. I do several charity projects every year and I thought this would be great fun."

Ryan Galer, director of Dockerill's, said: "The design looks great, we love it and we can't wait to see it out on the streets."

Louise's style is inspired by her fascination with people and her daughter Lama-sea, 23, who is her main muse.

She added: "I love people, I am fascinated by their faces and inspired by beautiful, sensual women. Most of my work is a celebration of femininity. I use all sorts of materials, I work a lot on metal and use crystals and gold leaf - very luxurious things."

Other artists are putting the finishing touches to their dogs which will form part of the biggest art project the area has ever seen.

More than 30 businesses, companies and individuals have signed up, pledging £5,000 for the privilege to adopt a dog to help raise money for The Martlets.