ANIMAL AND WILDLIFE CHALLENGE JUNE/JULY 2026

[pcj]

Hello Everyone,
Here’s the JUNE/JULY 2026 ANIMAL AND WILDLIFE CHALLENGE

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ANIMAL AND WILDLIFE CHALLENGE

On the first day of each month various photos
will be provided,

Please choose from the photos provided
to create any kind of artwork that you like in any medium .
Please use only the photo’s provided.

You can post at any time time during the 2 months
[and even beyond ] and if you wish, please include any
works in progress and any comments. [ It’s nice to have
a chat about the challenge ]
Cheers,
Patricia

 

[pcj]

.. and here's the next 10 photos.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[pcj]

Hello Everyone,
The first photo was on the challenge several years ago. I’ve intentionally posted it again because I never
finished my drawing. This will give me a chance to participate by finishing it since I don’t
have time to start a new drawing right now.

Also, I think the squirrel has been posted before – this was not intentional, so I’ll post another
couple of photos later today.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[Sanlynn]

Thanks Patricia. A couple of these made me smile so you can probably guess which ones I hope to do.

 

[ams]

Wonderful images Patricia. Thank you for hosting.

 

[pcj]

Here's another 2 photos as promised.

Cheers
Patricia

 

[pcj]

Here's my unfinished drawing that I started years ago.
I hope to finally finish it now. !
Black and white charcoal on Cansons tinted paper.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[LizC]

It's looking good. Out of curiosity, where are you getting the photos from? I love the one with a otter and baby but it looks AI generated

 

[pcj]

Hi Liz,
Thanks for comment on my drawing.
I get all the photos from Pixabay. They are copyright free. I do hope
the otter and baby is not AI, I don't think it is. I search pixabay for photos.
I don't like AI and would never use it. I have noticed that occasionally and
not very often an image on pixabay is obviously AI [ an AI image does not
have the detail of a photo] so I don't use it.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[LizC]

Nowadays it's getting harder and harder to tell what's real and what's fake. But love I the otter pic even if it was AI

 

[Grapes]

Patricia, l hope you finish the drawing! You have already worked far on it and it's already looking so good.
I like the reference of it. Wonderful other references, too.

 

[Enyaw]

I love the one with a otter and baby but it looks AI generated

As per AI
It's hard to say definitively if this image was generated or modified by AI.
However, visual content analysis and online databases indicate that this specific graphic originates from stock imagery libraries (such as Freepik) where it is explicitly cataloged as a Premium AI-generated image.[1]
It goes on to comment on how uniform the hair and water are as opposed to reality.

 

[Sanlynn]

That little squirrel is so sweet and there’s something special about otters. Thanks for the additions.

 

[pcj]

As per AI
It's hard to say definitively if this image was generated or modified by AI.
However, visual content analysis and online databases indicate that this specific graphic originates from stock imagery libraries (such as Freepik) where it is explicitly cataloged as a Premium AI-generated image.[1]
It goes on to comment on how uniform the hair and water are as opposed to reality.

Well, that is very disappointing ! I did wonder why it was PNG and not a JPG.
Please don't use the otter image. I can't delete it because the edit time is past.
RE: the water being uniform - I have seen water like that many times. I am a commercial pilot
and spent many years flying floatplanes in the Canadian northern bush country.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[Enyaw]

Yes, I agreed, still water is still water with ripples but the fur did look painted. That said, nature can surprise you and AI can be wrong.

 

[Donna T]

I hope to see how you finish your drawing, Patricia. It looks so good already!

 

[pcj]

Thankyou Donna
Cheers
Patricia

 

[Kristen2026]

Great selection. I try to share my floral pictures copyright free to other artists. Been doing that for many years. Started on the newsgroups alt binaries. Got great reference photos for around the world.

 

[pcj]

Great selection. I try to share my floral pictures copyright free to other artists. Been doing that for many years. Started on the newsgroups alt binaries. Got great reference photos for around the world.

Hi Kristen2026,

II post pixabay copyright free photos for this challenge. I do a search for photos [not illustrations].
Occasionally they put an AI illustration in amongst the photos. Usually I can tell that it's AI and don't use it.
This time, however, I didn't realise that image of the otter with baby was an AI illustration until Wayne
told me. That is why I have asked everyone not to use that particular image [ the otter and baby image]
I can't delete it because the time for editing [ 1 hour ] is past.
I don't like AI and would never knowingly use it.
Cheers
Patricia

 

[LizC]

Sketched directly with pen so I couldn't fix mistakes: