Fundraiser Commission - Choco and Kitsune

[kerosene]

A couple of months ago, Chocolatl asked me to render a very special story for her husband, Kitsune. It is a story about a fox and a weasel (a black footed ferret, to be exact) that has been ongoing between these two through their relationship. I will not go into the details of the story, as Choco can more accurately explain it, but I will give the progressive images of the piece I created for her and Kit.

Please forgive the photo quality of the progress images.

First, I started by making some (very rough) sketches in my sketchbook. I had never drawn a black footed ferret, so I grabbed some reference images from google and sort of made my own versions.



There were a few more of these, but this was the one I decided to go with as a step in the right direction.

Then, I started playing with different scenarios.



Originally, I wanted to include some household items to keep it quaint and give the impression that the fox and weasel actually live together in a cozy little forest home.

As you can see, I eventually left the lamp and the wall picture out, since I felt they distracted from the story. The canvas looks brownish because it isn't actually canvas. It is linen, gessoed with clear acrylic gesso, instead of white. I chose the linen for it's earthy look and its specific texture (which is more apparent in the final piece at the bottom.)



I started painting the weasel, first. I was happy that she was a black footed ferret, because it allowed me to make some distinct markings to identify her as such. I was working in acrylics, so blending was tricky...it eventually took several transparent layers to get the blending right. Below is where I began the first layer.



I started blocking in color to get an idea of what the rest of the painting would look like, eventually. I had some ideas of texture for the background, thinking I could make it look like there was wallpaper in their home.



But I couldn't help but think that the blue scaley things really distracted from the main characters, so I toned it down, but let a little of it show through to keep it interesting.



I thought it was finally time to get Mr. Fox looking more like himself. He needed some detail refinement.

I took a couple of days off to look at the painting and decide what else needs to be done. It's funny how my perception changes once I am standing back and just looking.



I decided that some areas needed cleaning up, some needed finer detail work, some colors weren't totally working and the painting really needed a softness that I wasn't getting quite right, so I did those things and I finally felt that it was finished.



I enjoyed creating this painting. It was an honor to be a part of putting a visual image on a sweet story about two people who love each other. I was sad to send it off, but I hope Choco and Kitsune enjoy it in their home.

Thank you!