Baby Turtle Finished

Here he is finished!  You all know the drill.  I will leave him up for a few days and do a little touching up and smoothing before it is put away.  But, he is definitely finished enough to post. :)   I didn't add that much sand (which is very hard to see in the photo), because it would be to distracting.  It was definitely something new to work on a reference in a macro setting.  It was a touch more difficult  to get the details in such a small size work, so a little artistic license came into play on some of the details.  It is also interesting to note how the shadows that surround the focal point become so blotchy looking.  When looking at a photo, your eyes correct to see it more smooth.  This could also be contributed to the dark skin tones of the hand.  At any rate, it meant a lot of going back and darkening / smoothing of tones. 

What's next?  I have a commission that I need to get going on of two Yorkies.   There will not be a background with these two.  Haven't completely hashed out the composition yet, but the initial sketches will make that pull together.   One of my son's hamsters, Gordy (I haven't drawn this one yet), has passed away.  Thankfully, we have some photos of him being held.  So, a special request has been made of me to immortalize this little guy in graphite.   So it looks like there will be a lot of fur in my near future!  :)

Baby Turtle 6

This little guy is a pain to get a good picture of, so I zoomed in for a close up shot this time.  The bottom half of his body is blurred, and the thumb's placement is between the focused  and "out of focus" areas.  So, the bottom of the turtle will make more sense when the picture is in its entirety.  The sand on his body still has to be dealt with.  I am going to have the background finished before going back to the sand.   The next post will see this drawing finished!  :)    

Baby Turtle 5

What was that ill fated prediction?  "Finish this one over the long weekend."  Yeah... I don't think so. LOL  I can say this honestly and emphatically, "I have NEVER had my back locked up like it was the day after the last post of this turtle."  I avoided the drawing table until three days ago.  The scary thing is that I do not know what I even did to strain it.  One good thing about it?  It makes me appreciate the mobility that I am getting back so much more!   It is great to be back at the board.  *sigh*

I have spent the last few days mapping in this little guy.  Doesn't look like much does it? ;)  I know, I know.  It takes a long time to do.  He is so small, and there has been a lot of erasing.     He is in his "ugly" stage but is ready to be blended.  No predictions this time... I have some lawn mowing,  town garage sales to attend, and a wedding to go to this weekend.   My favorite time to draw is later into the night, so I will try to squeeze in a few hours here and there. ;)