Lots of Ends...Z and then some

OK it has been way more than a week, but to my credit I have been very busy with Art...like in watercolor etc...So you can see what I've been up to, I'm putting this all in one big entry.  If the phone stops ringing today, maybe you all will get to see it.  Thank goodness for leftovers, and that Don actually likes them.  Me too.

First, I am putting up the last sessions with Zebra.  The rump of the second Zebra wasn't what I was hoping for.  My critic-in-residence didn't like it either, so I brought out my fix-it paint, acrylics.  So the second zebra is half watercolor and half acrylic.  The watercolor that I had started with for that rump was too staining, couldn't get it clean enough, so opted for covering.  And I don't think I could have done anything differently, as my original idea was too different in style to what I would have done if I hadn't had something else in my head.  In other words, my original ideas was not good.  So here we are:

 Here is the back Zebra with a good glaze of a dark.  Still haven't touched the front guy. 

More darks with some shading in the white, and a couple of washes of the front zebra.  I didn't want to do more, wanting the emphasis on the back zebra, but it didn't work out that way.  Notice in the next pictures the mane on the face.

I have worked many times on both zebras by now.  Realized with some help from Don that the very dark area by the tail is a shadow.  I didn't see it at all, and once I did the whole rear end looked different to me, and thus made more sense!  Love the whiskers.  He isn't done yet.

Now he is finished.  Did you notice anything on the front of the mane?  It's an odd thing that has to do with taking the photo...You can see through the mane!  You can't in the original.  And the rump zebra looks better in the photo than it does in the original...So I learned something here.  I just don't know if I can put it into practice the next time I need to.

The rest of the pictures are those from the first half of the alphabet, which I had already done before I started to put them on the blog.  I'll start with the cover and continue all the way through.  I also want you to know that I changed the L for Ladybug.  Never liked what I did, so decided to do a ladybug the right size, and it took me one session.  I like it much better, but I'm starting from the beginning.

That is the Alphabet Book for Carrie.  It was a true labor of love for a very patient little granddaughter.  I can't wait to be able to give it to her.  Facts for each animal are being typed up, then I make copies.  Kinko's did the first two, and did a very nice job.  I will also have the copies laminated, bound and it is hers.  Some day the kids will get the originals, but Grandma is keeping those for now.