Ruler of all he surveys ...

I love elk. This is my second to last drawing for my art course -- I got to draw this really pretty photo of an elk (one of my favorite animals!) and, all in all, I really didn't do it justice. The background could be a lot better -- in the picture itself the background was really blurry, which was good, since I like drawing simple, blurry backgrounds, but I still kinda screwed it up. That bush directly behind the elk was really hard to draw, and it's still screwy. But, overall, I feel satisfied with it, even with all the mistakes. Now I can start on my landscape drawing lessons, and hopefully get a bit better at that.

Just as a note -- because I obsess about things like this -- I'm pretty sure this is a Rocky Mountain elk, based on the long tines on his antlers and the background, but I suppose he could be a small Roosevelt elk. (Yes, I'm a fount of worthless knowledge.)

My instructor's comments: "As close to a photograph as you can get! Your sense of 3 dimensionality is superb. Texture line work and shade work well done. Beautiful shading and fine work!"