“Apologies in advance that Otto is a little difficult to replicate – he really is a little black ball of fluff!”

These were the words that accompanied the photos below.

Well, he wasn’t wrong. But what a ball, and what fluff! There wasn’t a hope of getting a clear view of the eyes, so I just had to crack on, and imagine, as much as I could, just what was going on amidst all those curls and shadows.

I love the way those scattered highlights looks like a new-found constellation.

Here I’ve worked from light to dark – it can go either way, and often both. I can’t remember, but I suspect I went back in with the white at the end. Those first strokes are confidence builders – laying down the shape, setting the direction. And to be honest, they probably all vanish underneath the many many layers to come.

Then it was time for the backgrounds. There were few, but these were my favourites – luckily it didn’t come down to me, because I couldn’t decide.

We went with the grey – classic and calm. It was definitely the right choice.

Otto