How to draw a raccoon kit in a million tiny steps...
Somehow just when I think I have caught up with technology something happens to remind me of my age. In this most recent case I activated the cloud on my phone only to discover that it not only saved all of my photos but trapped them inexplicably, making them inaccessible to my computer. Obviously there is a simple cure to this problem, my husband seems to have found it, but it still partially eludes me. However, after about two weeks of separation from my photos I have painstakingly downloaded them one by one and am back to writing.
As many of you have seen from recent posts, I have taken the natural history illustration online class again! See why here. I chose a raccoon kit which I think will go be a great addition to the series I have been working on, Animals of the West, Inspired by the wildlife of Yellowstone Park, in the western US. I had so much fun watching youtube documentaries and sketching these little rascals from life.
After sketching the gestures of several different animals in a variety of positions I settled on a baby raccoon climbing a tree.Although adorable, it is slightly too small to be drawn alone which meant I would need to include portions of the tree as well. Good thing I practiced trees during the lock down. Have a look at that here and here.
Here are a few details of the hands and feet... paws?
I spent quite a lot of time on the face before I got it right. The mask proved to be a bit fussy but I slowed down and watched a few Netflix episodes while working.
Once the kit was more or less finished I started in on the tree. The following pictures show the progression of the outer rough bark and the smooth wooden core of the trunk.
I am rather pleased with the way it turned out. I love the contrast of the wood and the furry little raccoon. Can you see the shadow that I added to the tree 'under' the raccoon kit. It really helped the animal to be visually separated from the wood grain.
Now that this post is finally up I am looking forward to sharing a few other projects with you. Today School started up again and I am hoping that things will go well for a while. The children are so delighted to see their friends again and be part of a group. And I am looking forward to mornings devoted to art.
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