IF - Wild

This week's Illustration Friday prompt was Wild.  Although I actually drew this a few weeks ago I thought it fit perfectly with the theme.  I typically stay at my boyfriend's house a few days a week and let me tell you it's like the wild kingdom in their backyard!  We feed the squirrels everyday and they must have told some friends.  Just this morning there were six squirrels, a male and a female duck, birds and a bunny.  I love just sitting and watching them and was inspired to do this little guy.  They each have their own personalities and are just so stinking cute!

I've been trying to get a good picture of the ducks, the male is absolutely beautiful but they are a little more timid than the squirrels and don't venture too far from the edge of the pool.  (They have a huge in ground pool that goes 11 feet deep at one end so the ducks have plenty of space to play right now.)  If I get a good photo of one I'm going to attempt sketching one or both of them as well.

I just love nature and watching the animals and what inspiration just outside my (err, my honey's) back door!

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PPF - Playing With Acrylics

My second attempt at acrylics

Wow!  It has been a veeerrry long time since I've been on my blog.  It's amazing how time can go by so quickly.  I was in the mood to paint tonight and decided to link up to the Paint Party Friday blog.  Am I the only one that freezes up when you stand in front of a blank canvas???  This painting was not inspired by anything in nature, just my imagination.  I have a lot more practice to do but I don't think it turned out too bad.  Sorry for the bad pic, my very nice digital camera is having a battery issue and won't hold a charge so I'm stuck with my camera phone and the lighting was not the best at night.  The painting is much darker in person, I was trying to shoot for a deep in the woods look.

Started with this underpainting which I absolutely loved

I think oils are much easier to work with but it is nice that acrylics dry so quickly.

I did this backwards, should have added in the grassy area before putting the trees in

I'm not sure that I love it yet but I think it's not a bad painting and my daughter loves it so it just may find it's way to her house.  To view more paint party Friday submissions, head over here.  Happy Friday!

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TGIF!

So happy it's Friday!  I don't have a normal weekend like most people but I do get Saturdays off so I'm super excited that it's finally Friday!  I drew this little guy last night.  I took my time with this one and I'm really happy with the results.  I normally get so worked up with a new design that I work straight through from start to finish and I think by the end sometimes I'm not focused enough to try to get all of the details right.  This time I did my graphing before I left for work.  I sketched in the main areas at work and waited until I got home to do the actual shading and everything.  I'm planning to frame and hang some of my favorite pieces in my bedroom/studio soon.  Still planning to take some photos once I'm finished.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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