Aylmer Rabbit - Contract Illustration

Last summer, a local artist was collecting artwork to send to her daughter in the USA. She
wanted pieces that would remind her of home in Aylmer. After seeing some of my illustrations, she hired me to create a piece that includes a local breed of rabbit and some of the wild flowers on her property. The contract did have a restriction though. I was not allowed to spend more than 9 hours an the piece. (I actually spent 10... shhhhh.)

I started by researching photos of the bunny breed as well as burdock and queen anne's lace.  



I sketched out the look of the drawing. This also helped me figure out how to structure the flowers.


I found this dark grey piece of board left behind from years ago. I thought this was a great opportunity to challenge myself to draw on a dark surface instead of the usual white.


I sketched the composition using a white chalk pencil. I payed extra attention to the growth patterns of the wild flowers.


Adding colour was definitely different than other works. I was concentrating much more on the light source and less on the shadow.

 


Here is the final piece. Enjoy!


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