Some months back I was uninspired and filled this sketchbook page with random watercolour strokes – a trick some artists recommend against “fear of the blank page”. It didn’t work 🥲 (not for the first time, so maybe that trick’s not for me 😅).
In this case I especially disliked the colours – too cold, too… random? It’s made flipping through that sketchbook an increasingly unpleasant experience 😅.
So today, as I set up to draw some squirrels (inspired on the one hand by “The Heroic Squirrel Calendar 2025” by Kadmos Editions, and on the other hand by the “Funny Fortnight” prompt at Lotte Wagner‘s InkBuddies :)), I thought it may be a good way of making that page less ugly 😁!
Starting with light pencil sketches (referencing some favorite photos in the calendar):
Pen-and-inking the line art…
Getting close! Squirrel silhouettes on a dark background (indigo! love it 😊).
Still too cold maybe?
Let’s try with a yellow ochre wash on the squirrels (a sketchbook is for experimenting!)…
Not bad, I’d say :) I think now I can flip through the sketchbook again without feeling a cold shiver running down my back 😊.
Here a few more close-ups:
What do you think of the makeover? Which is your favourite squirrel? 😘️