sketchbook pages fall 2016-spring 2017, part 2: animal studies (selections). All from web references with the exception of the alligators, which are from my own photographs.
My technique for practicing animals in general, rather than over-focussing on one species: pick an animal and do an entire page of studies of that one species, then move on to a different one next time. Switch classes and families regularly; don’t get too used to just equines, or just songbirds. Don’t worry about skeletal/muscular anatomy or perfect proportions just yet- save that for when you do prep for a more formal illustration. Just try to capture quick studies of living, moving, animals.
The boys are very proud of their antlers this year—most of them still haven’t shed them!
I just included those first three shots (from back in Feb) to show off the largest bachelor group I’ve ever seen around here—six bucks hanging out together! One of them had already dropped his antlers. And look at the wonky rack on the little guy who mooned the camera in the next pics. I’d love to find that weird little antler when he sheds it.
While out with my friend doing field work, we encountered this very young white-tailed fawn (Odocoileus virginainus; video by him, not me). Young fawns are left in a hiding spot by their mother, where they remain motionless, while their mother forages. They are not abandoned, or orphaned, it’s just what they do when the fawns are too young to keep up with their mothers. Seeing this little guy suddenly pop out of brush right in front of us, on its own, with no mother around was slightly odd. We approached to take a closer look and it ran, and we suddenly became aware of why it was no longer in it’s hiding spot; a person was yelling to recall their large dog who was wandering in the brush patch the fawn had popped out of.
At this point, with so many humans and the dog around, the fawn was running further and further from its initial hiding spot, that it fled. I figured mom-deer would probably be a bit upset to not find her fawn near where she had left it, so we corralled it back into the patch of brush that it had initially popped out of (the dog now gone), and it laid back down, motionless, just like its instincts told it to do.
The deer in our area are a major problem. Their only effective predator at this point are humans. The coyotes aren’t good enough to really keep population numbers in check. Hopefully that will change as coyotes get bigger and better at taking deer, but until then, deer are posing major ecological concerns with over-foraging, which is affecting plant populations and the wildlife that rely on the now-nearly-nonexistent forest understory. However, you can’t get faced with a fawn and not want to see it or help it.
Did we “save” this fawn? I wouldn’t think so. I imagine a fawn, scared up by a predator, that managed to get away, would have a means (bleating, likely) to be reunited with its mother after finding a new hiding spot. But it felt nice to at least “help” a little. It was an interesting encounter at the very least, and a chance to see an adorable baby mammal up close.
Spent most of 2021 working on some awesome projects. Hundreds of illustrations! Most of which I still can’t share yet. Here’s a little deer that didn’t make the final cut for one project, but I still think she’s cute.
Before creating this panel for The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire, I had no idea that giant rhododendrons where native to North America. They are so big and showy, I assumed they were some exotic flower, but no, they are found throughout the Appalachian Mountain range. New Hampshire is about as far north as they grow in the wild. Makes me like the one planted outside my window even more.
[ID: image 1: a photograph of a German Shepard and a deer inside a police car, both sticking their heads out the back seat window. Gold letters on the side of the car under the window read “Stay Gay”
Image 2: a drawing of the dog and deer, in purple, with a red heart around them and Stay Gay written slanted along the bottom of the heart in yellow.]
[click image for full size] [alt text description attached to image]
You ever just look something and immediantly have OCs and a detailed backstory for each of them?
TheAppalachian Wildlife Refuge is a nonprofit that coordinates wildlife rehabilitation efforts in Western North Carolina by providing care for injured and orphaned wildlife,supporting the wildlife rehabilitation network, and offering conservation education to the community!
There are multiple ways you can support these guys continue to do their amazing work:
TheAppalachian Wildlife Refuge is a nonprofit that coordinates wildlife rehabilitation efforts in Western North Carolina by providing care for injured and orphaned wildlife,supporting the wildlife rehabilitation network, and offering conservation education to the community!
There are multiple ways you can support these guys continue to do their amazing work:
The Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium), the smallest North American deer, lives only in the Florida Keys. It is a subspecies of the white-tailed deer (O. virginianus). Key deer easily swim between islands. Living close to humans, they have little of the natural fear of man. The deer are often found in residents’ yards and along roadsides where plants and flowers grow.
This little baby deer got so scared crossing the road from seeing the car approaching, it dropped down in the middle of the road and wouldn’t move. After stopping and turning the car off to help them calm down, the mama deer cautiously came to the rescue.
