The Chipmunk and a new way with fur.

Haaaaaappy Friday. The weekend is here! Well it is for most people. Not for me, but l don't care as l get to draw all day, so everyday is the weekend! And l have been having such fun this week drawing this little chipmunk, even more fun than usual as l discovered a new way of drawing fur! And it happened all by itself with me not thinking about it all, l just found myself doing it.
l am not sure if the difference would be visible to anyone looking at my pictures or not, but l could tell the difference when l was drawing it, and l like it better. When l have thought of a good way to describe what l have been doing l will add a page to the tips section, at the minute all l can to to describe it is to say that it involves crossing the strands on the first layers, instead of them all going exactly the same way, l worked over it as l always have done, but the reason l found it exciting was because it results in more natural looking fur, the little patterns that the pencil strokes make look better and more realistic.

You can possibly see it in the head fur above. Because you can't really work light over dark with coloured pencils it can be difficult to get a natural look. You can lighten a little but not completely. So l usually put down light colours first and emboss quite heavily so that the darker color doesn't cover everything. The additional texture gave a more natural look when l began working the final layers.

ln the picture above l have begun the underneath layers of the body fur (although none of the other fur is totally finished yet) you can see how l have put down the cream and gold tones first. The cream was especially important as l could never have got that area as light as l needed if l put darker colors first. Using lots of colors and tiny individual strokes helps to make the fur look realistic.
And then l get to draw the pile of nuts he is sitting amongst. I have never drawn a nut before so that was a challenge to look forward to. Although l always feel apprehensive that l will ruin a picture by messing up something l have not done before it also helps to keep me enthusiastic and motivated. Meeting the challenge of drawing something new, or working out how to create a texture or a colour makes it exciting. Anyway l am looking forward to showing you how l get on with the nuts, in the meantime have an amazing weekend and create some beautiful artwork that challenges you just a little. Happy drawing.

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