then-----with 6 hours to deadline-----i shut photoshop down because it was bogging down and acting funny. While it was shutting down---i cleaned up my desktop--- throwing away some reference----a folder with old unused reference------------and EMPTY TRASH.

RESTART photoshop---------open recent items------cover is GONE

GONE!!! 2 and a half days worth of painting and sketching---GONE-----it was in THAT folder!!!!

i had been saving every 3 minutes--and it was saving to that folder

i hadn't taken a screengrab since 10 am----and that partial screengrab was what i had to begin anew---with 6 hours to paint.
i had 4 hours in the dog alone that day--and the dog looked fabulous!!
anyway----i sent out what i had by 10 pm. it looked about 70% done in my opinion. but deadlines are deadlines.