Winter Wildlife Designs: Work in Progress

Winter Wildlife Work in Progress,
by Clare Walker, BoundingSquirrel.Com

Hello there, and hope you're doing OK out there.

This week's post is a short one...And one of the, "this is how it really is", variety.

In truly organised design-land, I'd now be presenting you with all of this year's winter designs (which, I'd probably have finished, oh, around last Christmas sometime, at the latest :-) ).

Please understand, I have the greatest respect for people who can work like that...I'm just not one of them.

Instead, my head, and the PC, is still full of mostly finished wildlife paintings, almost-there motifs, lots of backgrounds, and a stag who currently can't quite decide whether he wants to be here for this year or not.

So, I thought I'd 'fess up to the reality of that in this post (as well as giving you a sneak peek of at some of the cute creatures who've made an appearance so far).

I'm going straight back into into now, but am still wishing you a good week.

In haste-but thank you so much  for checking in here.

More soon.

PS. If you are looking for winter wildlife designs right this minute, how about these birds, or cute winter  mice on a printable for crafters?

PPS and update: You can see what became of at least two of these creatures, here

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New Digital Painting: Whimsical Sleepy Fox

"Sleepy Fox" (whimsical digital watercolour in Krita 4.2) 

This sleepy little fox taught me two things today.

1) It is *always* worth taking a photo of something appealing the second you see it. In this case, I was glad that hubby and I had spotted and photoed this sleepy fox in a neighbour's garden during the summer. (It's a bleak, dark, rainy and windy day in December as I type this...And let me tell you *nothing* in the garden right now will beat this sleepy summer fox. :-)

2) Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it's also *always* worth persevering. I nearly gave up on this little guy several times during the sketching process, doubting the angle ("His trademark tail is hidden..Oh, no!") the shape, and even the colours. But all in all, am glad I kept going.

Am still going to wait overnight for the mysterious "art fairy" to work her magic, and let me know whether there's more that I need to do here. But just for now, I'm going to leave this here and chill, just like our foxy friend here.

More soon...

Daily Illustration #100: Tortoise & Hare (Digital Painting & Final Day of the Daily Illustration Challenge)

It's here. Daily illustration 100. Thought the "tortoise and the hare" was appropriate. not just because it's the end of the challenge, but also because it's been interesting to cultivate patient and slower "tortoise"-like ways and let my "inner, impatient hare" take a back seat.  Plus it's helped me to  cement and build up work in my new style, that now feels like second nature.

Would I do it again? In a heart beat. Would I recommend or help you to do it? You bet! (please let me know in the comments if you would or wouldn't do a 100 day project like this yourself).

And, will I keep drawing? Absolutely.

In fact, as the phrase goes, it feels like I'm, "missing it already".

I'll also still be posting new illustrations and digital paintings regularly, and creating something every day. The only change is that I won't necessarily be posting an illustration onto the blog every day. Which means more time for learning, for developing my own courses and projects for which people have asked or suggested, and for linking and interacting with more people, places and websites than I've had chance to recently.

So this isn't the end. If anything, it's simply the "end of the beginning" of something so joyful (and now so well ingrained) that there will be more.

But right now, it's time to celebrate. And whilst the tortoise in that picture may be delighted with lettuce, it's time to celebrate these hundred days with something a little stronger tonight...

Daily Illustration #96: Zebra

Wanted to draw a zebra weeks ago, but am glad I left it this long, as he was surprisingly tricky. Just like dogs are defined by their fur, this guy is pretty much completely defined by his stripes. (It turns out that even zebra manes and tails are stripey, which I'd never noticed before).

Anyway, this was daily illustration 96. Just four more days to go until the end of this challenge.

(In answer to a query about this, after the 100 days, I'll still be drawing on most days, and posting often. It'll just give me more time for eg, paintings that take longer than a day to complete, and learning new techniques).

More tomorrow.

PS.(April 7th) In relation to the Creative Everyday "Rainbow" theme for April 2016, someone asked about adding a rainbow. This was the thought I had. Didn't like it at first, but it's growiug on me...

What do you think? Do you prefer this zebra plain or "rainbowed."? Please do comment and let me know what you think.

Daily Illustration #94: Whale Patterns

It's day 94, so am coming into the last week of this 100-day challenge.

Rather than slowing up, decided to have a go at something new for me: three co-ordinating patterns.

They're based around the idea of the epic whale migrations that every mother blue whale makes with her calf up the Pacific coast of the US, which blew me away in a documentary, in its scale and audacity.

These patterns aren't that audacious-but hopefully give you cute whales!

Daily Illustration #88: Happy Easter Rabbit Digital Watercolour

Happy Easter from a digital watercolour Easter rabbit in ArtRage4...

Daily Illustration #69 (& New Digital Painting): "Mad" March Hare

March hares (or hares generally) are apparently, not showing any signs of madness at all. Their leaping and boxing is just part of a mating ritual. (And in a blow for feminism, apparently it's also the females who "box").

But the phrase persists. So this is still a "Mad March Hare", illustration. Besides, the leaping around illustrates pretty much how I feel as am trying to get the new items for sale together. They are coming, folks, I promise!

Update: This hare (and much else besides), is now available if you click here

Daily Illustration #62: Leaping Frog

The idea for this little leaping frog was in my mind for a few days. And then the Creative Every Day theme for March 2016 turned out to be "Leap!". I'm loving the synchronicity here...

Daily Illustration #36: Work-in-Progress Mice Sketch

Just can't do these mice justice in the time I have for art today. So it's sketch today as a work-in-progress offering today...and colour tomorrow.



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Daily Illustration #35: Penguin (Digital Pen-and-Wash Sketch)

This is one penguin who definitely wants to chill...


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