Alpaca

[jennaboo88]

Hi everyone!

It seems like I've been focusing more on drawings over the course of winter so here's my newest piece. I saw this absolutely adorable alpaca at a zoo several years ago and took pictures because I loved his hilarious crazy hair. It made for such a fun portrait to create in scratchboard. There were so many textures throughout with this funny little guy, I'm not sure I've ever had more fun with scratchboard. As you can see, I had to really loosen up my inner perfectionist and allow the blades to carve and sway and squiggle in their own way - what better way to capture the chaos of hair? I'm a curly-haired girl, myself, and I know something about the untamable nature of curly, unruly hair! What fun this was!

This is 8x10 inches. I used fiberglass brushes, X-Acto knives, and tattoo needles of various types for this. C&C welcome. Thank you for looking!

A few close-ups.

 

[Iain]

Beautiful, wonderful subject, Jennaboo, truly. The close-up of the nose could almost be a rabbit. Snoball is expert with the scratchboard, too.

 

[Schuee]

Awesome, Jenna! A real pleasure to see, and a lovely story behind it.

 

[Terri]

What stunning work! A beautiful result!

Thanks for sharing all the close-ups. I love reading how much fun you had bringing this little guy to life - your work is wonderful and your joy in the creative process shines through.

 

[snoball]

Gorgeous work as always, Jenna!

 

[Sanlynn]

So well done! Lots of mark making in this one.

 

[wirfi]

Cool technique, and motif!

 

[Enyaw]

Wow. That must have been some itch. Lovely scratch work.

 

[Hostajunkie]

Wonderful job!

 

[Artyczar]

That is awe-inspiring. Just mind-blowing!

 

[Donna T]

Wow is this ever amazing!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Jenna, I'm always astounded at your work. This is special since we lived in South America in llama land. Love it!!

 

[pcj]

This is absolutely stunning.
Cheers,
Patricia

 

[JSparrow]

Oh wow! Your scratchboard work is amazing. I'm glad you had fun with it, but it still must take an amazing amount of control. I've never tried scratchboard. Don't feel confident enough in my drawing skills for it. Nope not at all, so I am very much in awe of your work.

 

[Triduana]

This is just brilliant. I love the fur!

 

[jennaboo88]

Beautiful, wonderful subject, Jennaboo, truly. The close-up of the nose could almost be a rabbit. Snoball is expert with the scratchboard, too.

Thank you very much, Lain! Such wonderful comments - I really appreciate it!

 

[jennaboo88]

Awesome, Jenna! A real pleasure to see, and a lovely story behind it.

Thank you, Penny! I appreciate the kind comments so much!

 

[jennaboo88]

What stunning work! A beautiful result!

Thanks for sharing all the close-ups. I love reading how much fun you had bringing this little guy to life - your work is wonderful and your joy in the creative process shines through.

Terri, thank you very much! Scratchboard can feel daunting - I'm often nearly half-way done with a piece before I recognize the joy in the process, but this one was fun through and through. I'm glad you feel my joy in this by the end result.

 

[jennaboo88]

Gorgeous work as always, Jenna!

Many thanks, Snoball! I know you are a scratchboard master, so your comments mean a lot to me.

 

[jennaboo88]

So well done! Lots of mark making in this one.

Thank you, Sanlynn! Yes, there's so much more work when white fur is involved. There's so much ink to be scratched away, and in this case, it went more quickly than I anticipated, which was nice. I couldn't leave it alone, so it seemed to come together pretty fast, all in all. I appreciate your nice comments!