Squirrel Drawing Finished

Here it is finally completed. Or at least close enough to post! I will let it sit on the drawing board for a few days and look at it with fresh eyes. Finished drawing is 9x7". I am very happy with the finished product but think I will stray away from the animal scene for the next one. I ended up using a lot of 9b in this one. That made for many layers. On to the next, hopefully lighter, subject!

Squirrel Drawing Cont. 5

Here is where I am at today. I just started to bring the birch branch forward. The main branch to the right will get deeper in value and blended to push it into the background, and then I will do the shading and detailed work on the section in front that is in focus. There will still be some more time tonight to work, but I wanted to post it at this stage. It helps me to chronicle how a piece comes together for future reference. The squirrel has been given heavier cast shadows to match the photo reference. (And now that I am looking at it on the screen, I might darken his back a little more. It is where the light source hits the strongest, but I think I can go a little deeper in value.) He has taken quite a bit of time as I go back and forth deciding how to get that short fur to look right. I must say it has been a learning experience. I know I moved faster than this on my self portrait... AAAAGH!! Back to the drawing board...

Squirrel Drawing Cont. 4

Here is the next update to the squirrel drawing. As you can see, I added in more of the background to the right and completed his other hand and tail area. Now, I will move on to his whitish under belly and feet. The right side of the background will be considerably lighter and not as busy as the left. With the holiday weekend upon me, I hope to get the time to finish this one. (Sorry for the washed out photo! Graphite does not photograph well in a sunny studio. I promise to get a better pic of the finished work. )

Long time since the last post. What have I been doing?? Believe it or not, I have been hatching chicks. This little guy here is named Fred. Fred is a little turkey. He and his brother were born within a few hours of each other. His little brother, whose name is Gene, had trouble coming out of his egg and was delivered by yours truly. We have since found out that Gene's inability to hatch himself out was due to a problem with his left leg. At the present moment, they are both doing well and are very noisy and active. My son does not like me naming the birds. He believes I become to attached. Who me?? If you hadn't guessed I named them after two famous actor/dancer/choreographers. And boy do they live up to their names. They are constantly moving (or dancing ;-) ) around the cage with those long legs!!

Here is Fred at a tamer moment as his brother was just delivered in the background. He thought he'd take a peek at the outside world.

These guys arrived already hatched on the same day that the two above were born. The majority of them were a couple of weeks old, but the guy threw in four that were newborns. This did not work out well as two ended up dying. So while my son was gone, I pulled out the two remaining little chicks and stuck them in with Fred and Gene, since they are very close in age. At first the little chickens just stared at those long legged birds! What in the heck are those things?!! It was so funny. But in the end, they were piled in a little heap under the heat lamp in the corner. Aren't families great!

Squirrel Cont. 3

Busy weekend, but a little progress was made on the drawing. As you can see, he now has a face. His whiskers have made their appearance, even though some will be elongated later. I have been double checking the values in the shadows of the fur, and they might have to be altered once the body is finished. My main objective is to get the fur laid in the right direction then worry about cohesiveness later. This little guy is actually a roan color for the main part of the body with a gray/white under belly. With the sun hitting at his back, it is making a job of translating it all into shades of gray. Although more than likely, I am just over thinking the task!!

Squirrel Drawing Cont. 2

Here is a quick update to show how this drawing is progressing. The background was drug over a little farther to the right to accommodate the bush of the tail that needed to be rendered. A good part of his tail can be seen and the majority of his head. I went back and darkened up the background blur with a 9b pencil. Usually I will wait until the end of the project to darken values, but it was throwing off my shading of the squirrel. This little guy's head has given me quite a time! I am not accustomed to rendering short haired animals. It has been quite the learning experience. It was a strategic move to do the face first on this one. I figured it was the shortest haired area and the spot on the body with the most detail. Hopefully, the pace will pick up with the other areas.

Squirrel Drawing Cont.

"What is that?" you ask. Hopefully to be followed by--"It looks blurry." ;-) At least I hope that is what you are thinking. The answer to the question is that this is half of my out-of-focus background. I know this does not bring a whole lot of anything to the table, but this is what I have done so far. It has taken me a few sessions to get all that blur going on! It made me rather nervous to start the background first. My comfort level is pretty low. At first, I was going to do all the background; but after some thought, I decided to stop midway. The squirrel will be the next part to be rendered. If the background on the right of the picture was finished, it would make me nuts. I would have to cover that part of the drawing while I worked on the squirrel, because that is where I would rest my hand. Not that blurring it more would be a bad thing, but it just makes me uncomfortable. An artists bridge would solve the problem, but me and my bridge do not get along very well! I cannot remember a project that I used the poor thing on. Aaaaah, maybe someday...

Squirrel Drawing

I thought I'd show this project in its earliest stage. This is the initial sketch before being transferred to the final surface of Bristol board. I am in the process of darkening the sketch, so it will be easier to see through the Bristol on the light box. As you can see (or hopefully can see!) this is going to be a little squirrel in a tree. I fell in love with this picture partly because of the lights and darks of the squirrel, but mostly for the birch tree that he was found on. The limb has such a nice contrast on its bark, and it is so defined in detail and goes out of focus as it recedes into the background. The background itself is so blurry that it makes a nice frame around the central focus of the squirrel. At least that is what I hope the finished piece will convey! ;-)

I know that there are some (even a close friend of mine) that find squirrels to be quite a nuisance. ( They do have fun emptying bird feeders.) But in their defense, I find them to be hours of fun to watch. I had one in my backyard a week ago that was thrilled to find the bits of hot dog buns that were thrown out for the birds. He frantically went around digging tiny holes, depositing the chunks of bread, covering them up with dirt, and carefully patting the earth smooth over them. He must have hid a couple dozen pieces! He treated himself to a couple of chunks for all of the hard work as the sparrows ate happily along side him. I have never seen a squirrel do that before, and unfortunately for him, we received a steady rainfall that night. Rain, dirt, and bread? Oh my! I am sure all the earthworms were very thankful for Mr. Squirrel's contribution to their underground food pantry!! All this natural entertainment and all it cost me was a few left overs... Some of the best things in life really are free!