Dragon drawing

 Alright so I wanted to attempt another "big" drawing - which is how I think of it in my head, but not at all literal since it's exactly the same size paper 😂    But by that I really mean something that will be a challenge and likely take multiple days or weeks to complete.   The first was the bird tutorial...   Then I drew Tucker.   Now I wanted something similar quality, but of a fantastic nature.   hmmmm

My learning to draw journey started with a goal of drawing dragons.  My last "big" dragon I was...  less than proud of ;).  lol well that's not entirely true, I was proud that I drew a dragon that was recognizable as a dragon, but the sketch was way better than what resulted when I added colour.   And, well, a whole lot of other issues that come with being a beginner artist.

So I'm still v much a beginner artist but slightly less so than I was last year so, you know, we'll complicate things even more and do not just a dragon but also a fairy ;).  Now the problem is, I'm still at the level that I need to be looking at something to have a hope of drawing it.  This is a challenge, as I don't happen to have a ton of dragons and fairies hanging around that I can photograph (they're shockingly camera shy!)

This is what I started with...

I do, however, have this picture that Em took of Nick and I a lifetime ago.  To this day, it makes my heart melt.   And, I have AI ;).  So I started w ChatGPT which is usually my AI of choice and asked it to take this photo and replace the woman with a fairy and the horse with a dragon.  It failed atrociously.  Several times with different prompts.  Like not even remotely close to what I was after.   Booo.   So then I tried CoPilot which I'd never used and it NAILED it.  Like brilliantly.   I was so excited.   There were a few minor aspects I didn't like, but it was entirely willing to tweak to my specifications and in the end I had a dragon and fairy in the same pose, that I thought might work.

...and after several edits, this is what I ended with.

So we won't discuss how long it took me to figure out the sketch.  Honestly, the real challenge was the fairy's face.  Everything else was reasonably easy, but it took approximately 382783538 tries to get the face "right".  It was painful.  Really painful.

I didn't take a picture of just the sketch (day 1), but - having learned from last time, figured I'd try doing the background first as is often recommended.  Also, I don't love backgrounds so figured if I did it first and f'd it up, at least I wasn't risking the whole drawing...   Decided I would use Faber Castell for the background and Prismacolor Premier for the foreground.   So day one was FC (oil based, and slightly less vibrant colours -- often used for animal and people drawings).   After a ridiculously long time, I ended day 2 with:

So - it's super tedious doing the background first.  

 

Next day's effort included more detail to the background and first effort at the frame of the wings.   To get to that there may or may not have been some youtube tutorials on how to colour gold 😂 

Actually pleased at how the gold turned out!   Background is slightly better but I still don't love it - ah well, we'll see as we go :).  A little concerned about how the dragon spikes are going to work out with the background already there but that's a future me problem ;)

Day one of wings

The world disappeared while I was doing this one.  Was out back and started early afternoon and suddenly it was 5:45 and the alert that cats were being fed buzzed my watch, which told me I should go feed Sasha too.  I fed her, and went right back to drawing and kept going till I got cold.  This one I actually took the time to do a practice round on spare paper - tested the colours, the flow, how to get the markings in (those will be the next day), and the impact of blending (SO glad I practiced that first cause I would've messed it up for sure).   Still work to be done, but I'm happy with how it's turning out so far...

Took a break between last one and this one due to life

Making this up as I go along lol.   Did more for the wings and while I wanted to do the hair today, I figured I should do the shirt while I still remembered how I did the wings.  This was not actually how I had envisioned it, but I think it still works.   Also continuing to fuss with the background 😂   We'll see next time I look at it :)

OMG is this phase ever creepy 

lol so I got to do the hair today and I'm reasonably happy with it.   Surprisingly happy with the skin - watched a fast-forward tutorial to get colour layering suggestions but definitely no tutorial available for this particular artwork so started with base colour suggestions and made the rest up as I went along.  Quite pleased with how the skin turned out but is it ever creepy having a blank face.   🫣 

I have a practice sheet that I'm investing a lot more time in than I have previously and it's definitely helping the overall success rate.   It does slow the pace, but I think it helps the overall result.   And *why* did I choose to stop there?  Well cause I'm still not thrilled w the sketch of the face so kinda figure I have to sort that out before I add colour.   We shall see...

Oops ;-P

Alright so...  Today I am v disappointed cause I messed up some proportions and turned my lovely fairy into a neanderthal.   Booo.   I also learned a whole lot of lessons about colour theory and blending as I started to do the dragon ;).  I feel like the fairy issue might be too much for me to overlook when this is done, so this one will go down as a learning experience.  And also, my dragon scales feel a little like feathers?!?!  lol.  I may or may not be able to fix that.   BUT - I also really like the concept so current plan is to finish this one, learn everything I can, go away and learn more about drawing faces and people proportions, and maybe a bit more re colour and backgrounds, then come back and do it again.  Maybe.

Follow up:

So I posted my WIP in the forum where I’m learning to draw and asked for help.   Common consensus was that the scales do actually look like scales not feathers (and that scales evolved from feathers so good to go either way 😂 - I kinda like the idea of my dragon being an evolutionary transition) - and also someone directed me to a lesson specifically about drawing scales that is many chapters ahead of where I am now.  Won’t help for this one but likely will for the next iteration.   As for the girl - common consensus is that she looks just fine if you don’t know what she was *supposed* to look like, and one useful suggestion about tilting her eyebrows to make it more obvious she’s looking down.   So I’m going with - maybe not quite as bad as I’d felt?   Always the way w one’s own work though eh?

Today’s learning was that blending colours in a small space has some risks - my light to dark on the smaller spikes all the dark went to the light side!   I have no idea how or why - the physics of that doesn’t make sense to me.  But fortunately I was able to fix it w the next layer, just means they’re slightly more vibrant than I’d originally intended but that might just be okay - it is a dragon after all!

Step in the right direction

So with some advice from the art class forum and some studies of the original sketch, I think I've managed to save my fairy!  😂   A long way from perfect, but she looks a lot less like a Neanderthal now.   And I'm kinda loving my dragon.  Who's not actually done yet,  but getting close.  So much learning and problem solving happening but I"m really enjoying it.

We're calling this one done

I think…. I think it’s done ❤️.  ~35 pencil crayons (coloured pencils to the rest of the world), 9 evenings of work spread over a few weeks.   One “help!  How do I fix…” post in my art class forum ;).  And endless learning and problem solving.

Things that were a challenge:

• Sketch that I was proud of in black and white but didn’t look right when colour applied
• Colour theory aka what colours blend well and which ones don’t ;).  And how do you fix it if you choose wrong.
• I now know all the various shades of orange in my collection ;).  A shame it’s the last day of pumpkin season.
• Figuring out all the details you need for photorealism without a photo - this, clearly, I have a v long way to go.  Shadows / values / etc - all a challenge for a beginner with a realistic starting point - way harder with fiction and honestly AI isn't great at it yet either ;) 

There are parts of this that I love, parts that I really do not, and all of it that I can imagine the next iteration after I go away and up my skills a bit ;).   I did enjoy it though and likely will do it again once I feel I have the skills to make what I see in my head a reality. 

Bruce Trail: Caledon E2E Day 3

Actually THE most stunning day.   Added in a waterfall side quest as well :).  Did this part on my own, with J&B as trail angles to drop me at the starting point ;).   Hike was the stuff dreams are made of - esp when it also happened to be a Monday lol.   The system I rigged to hold the poles for the roadwalking part worked well -- I'll invest in proper clips for a long-term version of it 😂.   Lots of stairs today and lots of road, but also ALL the fall leaves and - I saw a fox ❤️ 

Today's Stats:

Distance: 25.9 km 
Elevation Gain: 482 m 
Weather: 10 deg sunny and windy
Duration: 5h 39 min
Avg Pace: 12:11

 

Bruce Trail: Caledon Day 2

With Janie and Braulio today - J's knee was a little stressed so took it easy.  Got rained on for all of about 45 seconds - just long enough to test out the rain cover on the bag ;).  Another day of gorgeous views and stunning leaves.   While still a couple hills today, significantly flatter than yesterday!

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 18.96 km 
Elevation Gain: 716 m 
Weather: 20 deg threatening storm that kindly held off till we were done ;)
Duration: 4h 25 min
Avg Pace: 14:00

Bruce Trail: Caledon Day 1

The 360 degree views of fall colours were stunning

What an incredible day!   Hiking w Janie and Braulio today.  Fun game of under / over / through with the stiles - lol I'd never really realized there was a pass through for critters (or people who don't want to climb lol) on some of them before.  Stunning weather, amazing fall leaves, and good friends - what more can you ask?   Well - the pub afterwards would've been nice but alas did not have food.  Fail!

Also tried poles for the first time on this hike - was truly amazed by the difference they made once I got the hang of them.   There's the lazy pole swing (like 3 steps to every pole movement) which honestly doesn't do much but does help prevent fat hands, but the one for one pole-to-stride match going up or down hills?   That adds a ton of speed and power on the down and helps conserve energy and strength on the ups.   Today had a LOT of downs and ups so definitely got to practice that a fair bit.   Someday I am 100% going to get overconfident with these and either stab myself horribly in the foot or wipe out in a big way, but fortunately today was not that day ;)

Stats:
Distance: 27.5 km 
Elevation Gain: 843 m 
Weather: 20 deg and sunny :)
Duration: 7h 2 min
Avg Pace: 14:10

The traditional approach...

...and an alternate solution ;)

BT: Caledon Pre-Hike

You can't actually see this from the BT, but it's a very short detour ;)

So we're doing the E2E over the weekend, but we can't park at the *actual* end, so I committed to doing a quick pre-hike to knock off the section between the final parking and the end of the section.   Since it was short, I also did the detour to see the Badlands - which I haven't seen since they protected them (last time I was here, we were definitely able to hike all over the rocks and nobody thought anything of it.   That was.... longer ago than I care to admit ;)

Mini-stats:

Distance: 4.72km
Elevation gain: 110m

Toronto Bruce Trail E2E - Day 2 - Southern Section

 

Today was a great "floor is lava" type day with lots of flat rocks to navigate.  Section reminiscent of the Scenic Caves which was very cool.  No real hills today.   Janie and Braulio joined for today - we got separated at the start, but met up again at the checkpoint and did the rest together.  

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 21.78 km 
Elevation Gain: 267 m 
Duration: 4h 23 min
Avg Pace: 12:06

Entrance to the very cool scenic caves type section.

Random and pretty - near the end

Toronto Bruce Trail E2E - Day 1 - Northern Section

 

Today was the hike of the boardwalks.  Long and pretty.  Some rocky sections but nothing v dramatic; very little int he way of hills.  Perfect weather.

 Today's Stats:

Distance: 27.8 km 
Elevation Gain: 396 m 
]Duration: 5h 27 min
Avg Pace: 11:39

Find the trail ;-P

Beaver Valley E2E - Day 5

 

Loved this random waterfall

Perfect weather today.  First section was very rocky.  Only one significant hill (alas, right near the end!).  Surprise waterfall 12 or 13km in was gorgeous.

Today's Stats:

Distance: 23.8 km 
Elevation Gain: 733 m 
Duration: 4h 38 min
Avg Pace: 11:46

Beaver Valley E2E - Day 4

 

The ski hill in the first 5km was deadly - basically straight up.  Thought it'd be fun for Laura and I to come back in winter and ski it but alas turns out it's a private ski hill and this is not an option :(.   lol I never even knew such things existed.  All the rest of the hike was lovely and comparatively easy.  Perfect weather.  

Today's Stats:

Distance: 22.6 km 
Elevation Gain: 873 m 
Duration: 4h 34 min
Avg Pace: 12:10

Beaver Valley E2E - Day 3

Fun random find

Eugenia Falls and Hoggs Falls today - slight "touristing" detours for photos ;). - hiked a fair bit of today with Karen (from last wknd).   Constant up and down today.  Gorgeous and interesting but challenging.  No really rocky sections but two random arches (see photo) that I found interesting.

Today's Stats:

Distance: 22.3 km 
Elevation Gain: 914m 
Weather: 20 deg and overcast
Duration: 4h 241 min
Avg Pace: 12:37

Hogg's Falls was the smaller of the two, but I liked it better

Beaver Valley E2E - Day 2

 

Today's Stats:

Distance: 25.9 km 
Elevation Gain: 1381m 
Weather: 20 deg and overcast
Duration: 5h 29 min
Avg Pace: 12:45

Finished 16th

Thoughts from after:  

Today was everything yesterday wasn't.  I was significantly slower but not actually as slow as I'd expected.  Similar elevation today but it felt much easier as they were long slow climbs rather than straight up.   The views were amazing, in multiple locations throughout.   And the terrain was a serious adventure - at times almost rock climbing (both up and down).   And even a nice river walk for a short while.  I walked a good part of the first half with another woman who I quite enjoyed chatting with, and then the second half almost entirely by myself which was lovely.  And far enough away from others that nature sounds had started back up.   Really nice.

During:

6 - Stomach is not happy w me this am and v little sleep - could make today interesting 

7:35 - Crazy fog lines this am - perfectly sunny, then a wall of fog and very little visibility 

Loved the sunbeams through the trees

9:05 - This is 100 times better than yesterday. Amazing terrain and amazing views. I’m definitely slower, but not as much as I thought and the chatty hiker with the shrill voice is far ahead and can't be heard ;)

9:32 - I am apparently the "Solo Hiker With the Bouncy Pony Tail" I’ll take that 😂    The pony tail will stop bouncing by the end of the day, but that amused me for the moment.

Rocks early in

1215 No need for scenic caves whatsoever after today’s adventure.   So many rocks - sometimes going up, sometimes going down.  Often requiring 2 hands to navigate.  Lots of crevices.  So much fun. 

So earlier on this year, I noticed that when I’m going up a steep hill, especially if I’m tired, I put my hands on my hips. I have no idea why I do this.  It makes no sense at all, but today I noticed two other women doing the exact same thing so I’m really curious why that’s a natural thing to do when trying to get up a sleep hill. 

1230 on the easier parts I’m trying to convince myself to move a little faster so I actually finish today but I really am enjoying the peace and quiet. I haven’t seen anybody for quite some time and it is just so stunningly gorgeous and a lovely day.

Scenic Caves

One of the view points on the easy trail

So after the BV hike this am, I went and had a shower and a nap, but after that was feeling okay and considering what's next.   I was disappointed during the Blue Mountain hike that we didn't go through the Scenic Caves section (it was closed due to the ice storm damage) and considered going over.  But...  do I *really* want to go hiking again?   Esp given that I still have tomorrow? 

I checked Google - $35 to get in?!?!   Yeah, no.  Less interested.   Also, hiking boots or proper running shoes required.  My options were sandles or putting my hiking boots back on.  You can imagine how much I wanted to put my hiking boots back on ;-P

So I decided lunch first - stopped at the Ravenna Market; tiny little blink-and-you-miss-it town, but their lunch counter had a line out the door.   So was texting C while waiting in that line for my worth-the-wait sandwich and he recommended that I go.    AND, the Market was on the same street, AND the weather forecast had changed so the rain would be later.  So that combination decided me and I sucked up the need for the hiking boots and went over.

One of many types of signs to ensure everyone stayed safe
and refrained from getting lost

Worth it.  100%.  At least once.  Future me knows that there are other places in nearby areas that are just as good and can be explored for free (another day!) but at the time, I hadn't seen anything yet.   Whoever designed the wayfinding and signage for this place both knows what they're doing for signage AND knows just how stupid the public can be.  I was really impressed a number of times :)

The park has main trails and back trails.  The main trails are mostly wide and flat (easy enough to push a stroller for instance) although some significant hills.   All the hills have a number of benches along the way.   Any potentially intimidating areas (tight spaces, heights, etc) had clearly signed alternatives for people who didn't want to participate to meet others at the end.  

Suspension Bridge

One example of that is the suspension bridge.  It was more wobbly than you'd think, but not bad compared to some I've been on.  Had a great example of "the two types of people" walking by one couple where the woman was fascinated with the view and the man was fascinated with the type of steel used in the cables and commenting on how strong they were. 

You could walk all the way through here

My favourite part was actually on the "Ridge Trail" which was super easy to hike, but this one section was a crevice walk-through.  Not very long, but very cool, and there wasn't a single other person anywhere around.

The parking lot was packed when I got there, but there was only one area that was actually crowded.  Everywhere else I basically had the place to myself.   I did do a little bit of the back trails (mostly to get to a view point) and they felt more like the BT - a noticeable difference in difficulty.   In the end, I headed back more because I needed water than anything else.   I came into this already dehydrated and expecting a no-skills-required stroll and definitely inhaled a number of bottles of water.

Beaver Valley E2E - Day 1

Today's Stats:

Distance: 25.26 km 
Elevation Gain: 1125m 
Weather: 25 deg and overcast
Duration: 4h 24 min
Avg Pace: 10:29

Finished 7th

Thoughts from after:  

Today was interesting in that I was dying after the first 5k with some v steep hills and really worried about my fitness level and my ability to complete the rest, but then that was it.  No more particularly steep hills, no particularly interesting or impressive views, no interesting or challenging footing.  It was just a long, fairly boring, walk.   Also, instead of check points every 10k, they just did one in the middle, which - not the end of the world - but slightly disappointing and mentally challenging when you're expecting a break at 10 and it doesn't come till well after.

During:

5:30am - I’m awake.  I don’t need to be awake for another 90 mins.  This is okay now but will likely make the end of the hike a challenge.

7:40 am - the parking ladies are taking their jobs very seriously and yet not great at it 😂.  So much so that getting out is likely to be a challenge.   That’s a future me problem ;)

7:45 checked in and good to go.  I’m number 26 for the day.  Bus is not here yet…. This one maxed at 50 people and I got in from the wait list so pretty safe bet it’ll be about a 50 person start

8:00 “Bus departs at 8am sharp”.  It’s 8am, bus has yet to arrive much less depart ;)

9:07 What goes down must come up.  That might not be what you remember from physics class, but it's definitely the rule for hiking.  You go down a nice nice lovely trail, across a tiny bridge over a stream of some sort, and then straight up.  And up. And up.  And...  you guessed it...  up. 

10:26 So I know logically the whole point of this trail is that it follows in Niagara Escarpment, but somehow the first thing I think when I get to the giant rock crevices is "this reminds me of Niagara" ;).  Lol you'd think it'd clue in by now.   (Edited after - little did I know, this would be about it for rocks on this hike)

Nice place for a break

11:53 Love this bench and view.  Tempted to stop and enjoy it for long enough to let the extremely loud person behind me catch up and pass.  The other two people with her are no issue, but wow - what a shrill voice.  I've been lucky not to have experienced that for very long on other previous hikes.

Pre-Beaver Valley Hike

A pretty place to sit for a bit

So I drove up to Thornbury for more hiking adventures.  Not feeling particularly ready for this one so we’ll see how it goes.  Roughly 120km over two weekends of medium to hard difficulty hiking.  The area is stunning but we’ll see how it goes ;)

I was amused to drive by “Far View” Farm and looked out and all I could think was “yup, you have a really far view, and the cow grazing in the front yard suggests it is, in fact, a farm” - creativity may not be their strong suit, but they nailed accuracy and a stunning view to go along w it.

Not Wrong

Also - Thornbury is really far away.  😂 idk how younger me used to come up here so often, and hauling horses!  My tolerance for commuting - even pretty commutes - has definitely lessened.  Although to be fair, it’d be an hour less from where I used to live, but even still.   I found two ice cream places before I found somewhere for dinner ;).  Most of the city itself was closed - being after 5:00 on a Friday...

Ice Cream for dinner for the win!

The place I’m staying is…. Interesting.   🤔.  The guy who runs it, Richard, is definitely a character who it seems has had a fairly interesting life.  “Tries hard” I think is the right description for both the place and the proprietor.  But has both rooms and campsites available, and seemed to have a wide range of activities that I didn’t see anything about on the website (definitely something to do with kayaking tours; they’ll also shuttle hikers to and from the Bruce Trail; probably more options I haven’t seen yet.   

Cell service is intermittent up here so may or may not be updates tomorrow.

Drawing Tucker

Writing this as I go - we'll see how it turns out.   I'm trying to draw Tucker.   Not shockingly, there are no online tutorials on how to do this :).  I figured I'd document the process for posterity 😂     May the odds be ever in my favour.

So - Day one started with finding a photo - one that was clear enough I could see details; I particularly wanted one that showed his eyes, and ideally with perked ears, which was harder to find than expected.

This was my selection

From there I had to make my sketch - that...  took a while ;).  Esp as I wanted it bigger than the photo actually is.   But I was happy enough w what I ended up with.  This is improvement over the last time I tried to sketch a dragon from an image.  That did not go so well ;).   Alas, at the time I had no intention of documenting this adventure, so there are no pics of the sketch on its own, although of course you can see parts of it in the pics below.

Day 2

So - I spent an awful lot of time with my computer working on both a black and white version of the photo (to understand values and what parts should be darker than others without the complication of colour) and with a colour version to figure out what colours are actually in his fur!  More blues and reds than I would've guessed and lots of parts are far darker than I would've expected.  I know how to manage that with pencil, but not really sure about with colours.  😂 we shall see...   

Things I learned today:

A - partially drawn animals are creepy

B - it takes approximately 1284638274 x longer to do this than I would've expected

C - fabulous mental health win; I was fully oblivious to how many hours had passed and not at all interested in stopping

D - both artists I have paid for tutorials from have said more than once that there's always an ugly phase to coloured pencil drawings.  My only hope is that I will get past that phase at some point ;)

Day 3 - a week later

So I went away to the cottage for a week and poor partial Tucker was left behind.   I was somewhat concerned I wouldn't remember how I got him to where he was in the first place, so I put all the pencil crayons I used in a specific case, and kept notes of at least conceptually which colours I'd used for what.   This was helpful as I was able to add another layer to the part I'd done before that I'm starting to be happy with, and start trying to figure out how to do the light side of his face.  Objectively typing this now looking only at the photo, it's not atrocious.  But in real life, it's pretty dodgy ;). Just trust me on that one.

Day 4 - Starting to think I should make a flip book ;)

The lighter ear is coming along.  Still NQR, but much closer, esp in the pic version.  Same with the lighter side in general really.   Even less sure about how to tackle the collar or the white parts than i was about the brown fur, so I'll be making that up as I go along.   Some very early layers to the collar here because I figure having that in will make it easier to do the white parts of the head.   This is my theory.  We shall see in reality.

Day 5

So it's a week later again since we had our lovely Quebec trip in there :).  Added some basic colour to the body, a little more to the white parts of his fur, and mostly focused on the collar; I had NO idea even where to start with that, and while it's not quite done yet, I'm pleased w how it's going.

Day 6

Next layer of colour on his body, but I think I goofed on his face.   TBC if I can fix that next time ;).  Was trying to make the left side darker (it should be in shadow) but didn't quite get there.   Also really regretting that I didn't do a background cause part's of him just disappear into the paper.   Blah.   Lessons learned!   I LOVE how the collar is looking now.

Day 7

Maybe almost done?   I feel like not quite there yet but getting close.   Right so some things I like - the tail looks right now and the white on his back glows.  I also think the shadow on his forehead is getting closer.   I'm disappointed with the blue.   I'd heard advice previously about do the background first - this I totally understand, and to be fair to me, I wasn't originally planning on a background ;)  So by doing it second, resulted in some rework because all the little hairs that go out over the background needed to b e added back in.  No big deal.   What is a concern is that I really don't love the colour :(.  And I feel like it detracts from his eyes.   I wanted to do green (as though he were on grass) but had heard advice to pick colours already in the drawing or the lighting / tones / etc might not work well.   So all the colours in the background are colours actually in the drawing - mostly in the blacks or darker brown sections.   But it feels too much.   Also the right side of his face doesn't seem dark enough yet but I'm not really sure how to fix that.  Did post in the community for the artist whose lessons I've been learning from.  We'll see if they come up with anything helpful :)

Day 8 - Calling it done :)

There were two people in the art club that gave me really good, useful advice that helped me get this a little farther.  Still a bit disappointed at the background (although it's lighter now), but otherwise pretty pleased.  Had fun w details (whiskers!) and I'm surprisingly proud of the collar.  Leather is not something I had learned to draw before.

So many things learned in this round:

- polarizing the original photo makes it super easy to see values (ie what needs to be darker)

- "white" fur can be surprisingly dark and made up of many colours that are not even vaguely related to white

- to darken coloured pencils, just add more layers of the same colours (you'd think this was obvious but I actually had to ask the question cause for beginner me it was not!).  Many many more layers.   To the point that when I pulled up the masking tape, there was a visible ridge, just like when you take the tape off a newly painted wall.

- going forward, add many more layers before blending.

- do the background first

- in a lot of ways, coloured pencil is surprisingly forgiving.  Wrong colour?  Add another.  Too dark?  Erase.  Too light?  Add more layers.

- something needs to go under the paper while working to protect the other papers in the book.  

I can't even fathom how many hours went into this total, but even though I acknowledge it's a beginner effort, I'm still pretty proud of it.  And the time just flew.  So definitely starting the next project asap :).  The debate is do I do a tutorial I've been interested in to learn about drawing on drafting film, or do I try another pet?   We'll see....