I’m getting back to my animal paintings again. This is one of the benefits of having a few projects going on at once. I get to cycle through projects maintaining good interest and energy. When I start to burn out a bit I can shift my attentions onto a different project. This squirrel has been sitting around my studio for months begging me to finish the painting stage. I finished the charcoal on canvas stage a while ago, spray-fixed the work, applied my textured heavy gel and layered on a blue wash as my base. The actual painting was fairly quick, only a few hours, where I washed in more base color and then pushed in more detail and texture with some heavier paint application, dry-brushing a bit to push the peaks of the gel texture.

Now comes the really hard part, figuring out the name of this fellow and how he fits in with the artist’s narrative. I’m starting to get energized about the book again and hopefully, I can find time to devote to it over the next year while I pursue my Masters in Creative Writing. Not sure if it will be possible but we’ll have to see.