EM Challenge #6: Toy

When I was four years old, my babysitter, Irene, took me into her bedroom...it was filled with stuffed animals of all sorts: tigers, bunnies, teddy bears, everything you could imagine...I was overwhelmed...and then she told me I could pick any one of them to have and take home! I always loved dogs and hound dogs were my favorite (not sure why) so I saw this little hound on her bed and fell in love with him...I can't remember his name, though I am sure he had one. I slept with it every night for several years. He wasn't the cuddliest dog...he was very firm, like the stuffed animals you used to get at the fair. I would even venture to guess that was probably where he came from. He had reddish brown and white fur. His ears were lined with red sateen fabric. He had shiny black eyes and a fluffy black nose. Over the years of loving, his fur wore off...in many places you will notice he is now threadbare, his shiny black eyes have lost their sheen and the paint has worn off. His nose is barely hanging on by just a bit of glue and his sateen lined ears have only tiny remnants of the smooth shiny cloth attached by stitches at the seam. His neck ripped apart after a while. My mom tried many times to sew it with her heavy-duty candlewicking thread, but it still pulled apart. As a last resort, she finally held it together with some large safetypins (still there). A few months ago, Savannah discovered him in a box...and loved him immediately (I have no idea what the appeal was) and wanted to sleep with him. With his stuffing falling out, she decided he needed to be fixed so he is now at the "doggie hospital" at her aunt's house. I would love to paint him again, maybe do some small studies from different angles. There is a part of me that doesn't want him fixed...when I get my dog back, I will try to do some drawings & post photos of him...since this painting only shows part of him.

and a detail of the neck...

I painted this in college.