Another ATC and Chipmunk finished

Again I have a slightly misleading image as my first one today. This is another ATC (Artist Trading Card) so the image on your screen is probably larger than the actual card. ATC's are 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size. This one was done on Canson's 140lb Watercolor paper cut to size.

This is from another of the WetCanvas pen and ink monthly challenge reference photographs. I did this first as a pen and ink drawing, but I really love the colors so decided that it would be fun to make an ATC painting of it. Combination of watercolor pencils and pan watercolors, though I did sketch it out in graphite and then outlined the basic elements with pen and ink prior to painting.

This drawing is really 8 x 7 inches, so in reality much larger than the ATC. Not sure if it is totally done, but I think so, at this point any changes are going to be subtle. I spent several hours yesterday, looking and making slight changes until I felt I  had done all I could/should. Work at that point was mostly adjusting values in some of the shadow areas.

I use a ruby beholder to check values in my drawing against the reference photograph. It is a technique used by quilters to check fabric values as the red nullifies all other colors and all you see is value. I find it a useful tool when making my animal drawings. It is way too easy to think you have graphite in the drawing the same value as the reference, but really don't, only the relationships are correct, but darkest dark needs to be still darker.

The drawing which I am calling On The Fence, is from a photograph I made last summer at the Trailside Museum in Milton MA. People were feeding the ducks and the resident chipmunk population had arrived to get their share. This little guy posed on the lowest fence rail long enough for me to snap its photograph.

Done entirely with graphite, various hardness starting with a 7H and working up to a 2B, but most was done with the 2H, HB and B grades. Base is Stonehenge paper. This is a redraw though the first time I drew him it was a fairly quick drawing in one of my sketchbooks.

Between the watercolor ATC and the chipmunk drawing I haven't had a lot of time to work on other projects, but I did spend part of an evening doodling in my sketchbook, thought you might like to see the kind of things I doodle. Mostly plants/flowers but there is one snail in there, not sure where he came from. Sometimes these doodles become a larger project, so I don't feel that I am wasting my time doing them.

I made this photograph the other day out of one of my windows. For some reason a bit of snow had stayed on the railing and created this icicle. I made several photographs of it, but find I like this one with sunlight on it the best. Needless to say it is long gone. We have been in a warming trend for the past several days, (well at least during the day) and have had at least an inch of rain so the icicle is history.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.