Why do animals hide? Lots of reasons! When I saw today’s Inktober prompt word,”hidden”, of course I thought of all the ways animals have as built-in blending strategies. Colours and patterns that mimic their environment, even the ability to change those at will. I looked at pictures of animals concealed in plain sight,  including this beautiful collection by photographer Art Wolfe. I considered the blending capabilities of the octopus and cuttlefish, and the leaf-mimicking forms of insects. I thought about doing a very detailed picture of an owl blending in with the bark of a tree. For a brief moment I toyed with the idea of doing a polar bear in a snowstorm. I fantasized about drawing an intricately patterned lizard basking on an equally intricately patterned rock.

But ultimately I just got cartoony again.

Brush pen, pigma micron .05, and Col-erase pencils. I had more time tonight so I spent about an hour on this. Luxury!

I’m celebrating today, too — I finished the book project! Whoo-hoo! It is due to be published in April, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it and show off the artwork! I have to say, I’m very proud of it, and glad of the opportunity to have done it. Still, I’m glad to have some time to work on my own projects again, at least until the next illustration gig comes along, and I feel like a kid let out of school. A bit late for summer, so I’ll have to go kick up some leaf piles!