Tea for Three

They were an odd trio; the rat, the tufted titmouse, and the pygmy dragon. Not the types you'd expect to find gathering every Thursday afternoon for tea and roasted acorns, yet there they were.

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There is an interesting story behind this picture. Well, interesting enough from my perspective. I was at a loss at what to draw and after several days of stalling, my muse uncharacteristically laconic, when I was hit by the simple image of these three characters sitting around a tree stump having tea. I believe I was looking at a squirrel at the time, and which got me thinking about mice. I should draw a picture with a mouse in it. But no, rats were more my style. And a blue jay, of course. And then maybe a salamander—wait, what was I thinking? The third member must be some sort of dragon! Thus this strange trio was formed, the only change being that the blue jay became a titmouse, on the merits that titmouses (titmice?) were less well represented in lore and art, and I had a reference picture of a titmouse, not a jay.

But such was the vivacity of the image in my head that I got quite carried away in the sketching process, and as a result it was some days before I was ready to begin to color. When I was I found myself staring in horror at the prospect of lending color to what I felt was a practically impossible sketch. I still had a clear image in my head as to how it should look, the question was now; could I pull it off?

And the answer to that question I feel can only be supplied by my future self. Ask me again in a year or so.

Prismacolor pencils on paper. Ten days, 11+ hours.
8 1/2" x 11" glossy print available for $5.00 + shipping and tax (CA only) at the Eltsar Press Prints Gallery.
Enjoy