Puppies, frog and the Ugly 5

As I mentioned, I've been away on vacation - my husband and I went to visit Auckland for the Battlecry Convention and also drove around the Coromandel. Alas, our spirits were somewhat muted for two reasons - the most serious of which was the tragedy of Christchurch Quake.

Anyhow, because I cannot travel without my art kit, I took with me a case of polychromos pencils (my favoured pencils, the prismas are too fragile to lug around the country, although the earthquake sent them tumbling to the floor at home...), a tin filled with blank white cards and a flash drive with some reference images on it. I was working on art for three different ATC swaps. Here are the pieces:

Whimsical Animals of Africa
When this theme came up, I jumped at the chance to participate. My animal art is whimsical by nature and I love African Animals. But what to draw? Everyone seemed to be drawing elephants and giraffes, and although I do like these animals, I decided on something different.

You've heard of the Big 5 of Africa, right? Well - now presenting the Ugly 5!

Marabou Stork, Vulture, Hyena
Warthog, Crocodile

Hand Drawn Dog Breeds
These pooches all belong to friends of mine. Although I'm thinking I might draw Nika again, as I am not happy with the "balance" in the image.

Nika - Mastiff/Staff/Black Lab
Rogar - Spaniel
Milly - Spoodle
Piper - Pekipoo

And last, but not least is Hochstetter's Frog

This piece is larger - A4 size in fact and has been commisisoned. He is a Hochstetter's Frog, one of New Zealand's primitive native frog species - and also found around the Coromandel (along with Archey's, whom I have drawn earlier). He is very rare and lives in damp forest, near streams. Of our four species, he is the most water-loving. He also has more warts than his other native cousins. His colour varies from green to brown, and gives good camouflage.