Even more work stuff

Wood Frog again; late-stage tadpole this time.

I think this particular specimen must be regressing or something. I'm honestly not sure why I started with the adult and am working my way backward.

Ah well, as long as the work gets done.

Have a great New Year's everyone. See you in a few days.

More work stuff

This is attempting to be a Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica).

I'm not terribly happy with the work scanner at the moment, but this is close. Maybe a little greener than the original, but not too bad.

Wood frogs are cool, but since I'm at work right now I don't really have time to go into it. They can pretty much freeze solid in the winter, though.

Incredibly cool.





Um, sorry for that last bit. Stay tuned for the rest of the Wood Frog life cycle coming up in the next few days or so. I hope.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye... in inktense

You wonder how they do it, of course: finding the feeder seconds after you've filled it, locating the new nest box, knowing exactly when to swarm Tippi Hedren...

Part of it could be an eye in the sky -- no one's better suited for it -- but I have a feeling that it has more to do with the Town Crier. After all, it's always been his (traditionally his. Sorry, ladies) business to tell everybody everything he knows about the latest news at the top of his voice.

Erm... I should mention that this week's Illustration Friday prompt is messenger, shouldn't I?

Merry Christmas, all. And stay away from seagulls and crows, just in case. And maybe even phone booths, if there are any still about...

Sink in pen & ink and watercolour

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is sink.

Winter always gives me that sinking feeling.

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As usual, the scanner's ignored some of the background. That's ok, though -- there wasn't much to ignore this time.

Funny thing? Up to the chin in snow was the first thing I thought of for sink, but I live in an area that gets relatively little snow compared to the east (erm, knock wood).

Other funny thing? The sinking person's wearing my university colours. Didn't even notice until I scanned it. Ah well. Green and Gold, Quaecumque Vera...

Walnut in pen & ink

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is separated. The two halves of this walnut shell have definitely been separated, and the shell's been separated from its meat as well.

Before I go any further, I've just noticed how scribbly today's effort is. Scribbly mood, I guess.

I love Christmas nuts -- nuts in the shell, I mean. I look forward to them all year. I wish they were available all year, to be honest. Nuts in the shell seem a lot fresher, and I like the challenge of working to get to them. Besides, nuts in the shell seem to leave a person satisfied after having eaten a lot less than you would shelled nuts.

Well, that's the way it works for me, at least.

Since I was a kid, walnuts presented a special challenge come Christmastime. I always made an extra effort to try to get the shell halves separated without cracking them. Sometimes it seemed silly, since leaving the shell intact made it that much harder to get the good stuff out, but I still prided myself on getting those shells open intact. I saved them, too.

What? There's always uses for walnut shells. They make great squirrel ornaments. And skunks. And mangers, if that's more your inclination for things to hang on the tree.

A few years ago I was looking for something in my old closet at my father's place, and I happened upon one of my forgotten walnut stashes. Two zip-bags full of walnut shell halves. I honestly don't remember when I put them there, but it must have taken at least a couple of Christmases to get that many shells. And then? I put them away like they were treasure. Kind of made me think that I just may have a problem...

Anyway. Those particular shells got taken to the nature centre where I work, where they've been used for quite a few craft days. Told you walnut shells were useful.

Today's featured shell (a fairly small, unbleached walnut. I think they taste better, to be honest) won't be squirreled away in the closet, I promise. I was thinking that I might paint it. Paint on it, I mean; not make a painting of it. No idea why, but if the results are at all interesting I imagine they'll get posted here.

Goodness knows that I've posted weirder things.

Work stuff

Yesterday was Ground Squirrel Day for yours truly. Richardson's Ground Squirrels, for anyone who'd like to look them up. These pictures are meant to be a bit on the cartoonish side, but still be fairly identifiable. Do I like them? They'll do. But for the record, I suck at ground squirrels. Plants work better for my brain.

 Adult

 Burrow

 Hibernation

Young

Incidentally, if you're ever planning to draw newborn ground squirrels (and I just know that you are), judging from my resource material the best colour match for their skin tone is raspberry. Who knew?