Waffles and Friends

My dog Waffles, with a couple of his stuffies. The expressions on these toys just had to be painted. Waffles dishes out unspeakable abuse on these poor toys, and the look on the orange squirrel says it all. The green turtle is a new friend and is still naively enjoying his time, but before too long, he will also meet his fate in the jaws of a hyperactive Jack Russell.

My goal with this painting was to focus on light and contrast. I always struggle with that in my paintings, I tend to end up with tones that just aren't bold enough. This time, I spent a lot more time matching the colours and tones to my reference image, even though I was usually convinced they weren't right. The reference image had a lot of harsh light and strong contrast, and I was determined to recreate that in this piece.