Bookmarks and chipmunks

Above is my finished chipmunk. So another of my animal series is finished and the next one started. I have also been going through older photographs looking for other images to draw. Not as wide a selection as I would prefer, but it is what it is, I may go back to some photographs that I sketched previously and redo them as more finished drawings.

I was cutting a sheet of Stonehenge paper the other day as prep work for my drawings. Tinted Stonehenge paper comes in large sheets, well larger than I want to use for a drawing. I store it in a cardboard folder and cut it up as needed. Most of the sheet I cut into 8 x 10 inch pieces with a couple of 6 x 6 pieces and a few 2 x 6 pieces. The 2 x 6 inch pieces I will use for bookmarks.

Above is my playing around on one of those bookmark strips. My take on a giraffe, totally from imagination/memory. Done with one of my technical pens and colored with watercolor pencils. The Stonehenge isn't watercolor paper as such, but with the watercolor pencils I don't need to use a lot of water to get the colors to brighten and merge so the paper holds up quite well. I apply clear contact paper over the surface of the drawing to add support and protection. I will add a tassel using embroidery floss and consider it done. A bit of whimsy which after all the realism I have been doing was fun to do.

Above is another page from my Nature Journal, this is for a visit to Borderland State Park in Easton back in September. The top left image is of some grape leaves that I found on the site of an old farm house. The house burned down years ago but these grapes still grow on the property. They are small and so far I haven't been able to ID the variety.

The lower drawing is of one of the many people who bring their horses to the park to ride the trails. It is a very popular location with local riders. I can totally understand that, several miles of wide trails, open fields where they can canter the horses and all with some lovely landscapes. I am a bit rusty when it comes to drawing horses, but don't think I did too badly.

On that visit I stopped by the main house to check out an art exhibit. Not a large show, but some really lovely work including one quilt. Fiber art is becoming more acceptable, YEAH.

Both photos today are from my visit to Borderland. Above a view of one of the ponds from near one of the spillways.

Probably one of my last butterfly images for this year. This is a crescent butterfly, I think it is a Northern Crescent, but the crescents can be tricky to tell apart so I am only guessing.

That is it for today. We have sun after a couple of days of clouds and rain with more expected so I need to get out and about. Per usual comments are welcome.