16/11: WILDLIFE PICTURES

Our garden visitors are costing an absolute fortune at the moment.  The hedgehogs are shovelling in as much food as they can in readiness for hibernation.  A month ago they were eating 1/3 tin dog food each evening with some peanuts, raisins and grated cheese for interest.  Now we've increased that to 2/3 tin food and extra 'bits'.  They really are gaining weight and looking very 'portly'

We have 7 bird feeders hanging from branches of the fruit trees in our garden.  I replenished all the fat balls on Sunday and they're almost empty again just 2 days later ... I blamed the starlings who arrived in droves yesterday - but now I know who the real culprits are.   3 of the little' tree rats' were raiding the feeders this morning.   I managed to get several pictures of this little beastie as he wasn't worried about the camera

and my final 'wildlife' episode ....

David suggested I should produce a small 'contemporary' picture to include in the upcoming exhibition based on Zebra stripes.    We recently bought some  frames and mounts from Hobbycraft as we were attracted to the shape - they are square rather than traditional oblong shape.  So his bright idea was to draw something to fit one of the frames.  

I cracked on with this cropped study using pastels on Pastelmat for speed.   It didn't meet with his approval - he'd been thinking of something more abstract and done in graphite (I had to 'educate' him that graphite is not a 'fast option' and I am not an 'abstract' kind of woman)!!

The silly thing is, we'd both forgotten that when we purchased the frames and mounts, we didn't purchase the glass.  It was a deliberate decision to keep costs down at the time and facilitate storage at home until the frames were needed.    We don't have a Hobbycraft store close to us so .... here's the 'nearly finished' drawing but it won't be hung with the other pictures tonight.