Koala, work in progress. Scratchboard, 14 x 11 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
I’ve set aside my Polar Bear and put off colouring my chipmunk for the night to engage in some “productive procrastination.” I’m having some second thoughts about the background on the Polar Bear and because I prefer doing my colour work during the daylight hours I decided to start a new board. (I think this makes four I have on the go right now?) The photo is quite wretched – artificial lighting and too much glare from the overhead lights, but the board itself is a good start. Here’s a close up of the little guy’s face:
Isn’t he cute? The fur texture is quite different from what I’m used to: it looks somehow fuzzy yet prickly at the same time. And although the reference photo (from WetCanvas! by a member named “colliedog”) doesn’t have a catchlight in the koala’s right eye (on our left) I think I’m going to add one, it seems slightly off without it. Also, I’m using two different photos for this one: one for the head and another for the body, it’s something I do fairly frequently for pet portraits. My plan is to have this one in RFA show at the end of March.
