As you can see, I am making some progress on my chipmunk. The head area is pretty well finished at this point…..except for a few brighter highlights that I will add once the body is more filled in. I have started laying in some values on the main body and tail. Also started laying in some washes of color on the tree trunk.
On the next photo, you can see that I have started to build the color. Working mainly on seeing the shapes of color, building the depth. I have also been fiddling around with the tree bark, adding some texture and detail work. 
In the last photo, I have started to build the texture on top of the washes I previously laid down. Right now the little guy looks rather disjointed…that is because I’m still working on “seeing” the shapes of color. Once I’m happy with the individual shapes I will start blending them together through washes of color and texture stokes.
Wow! While I like abstract I admire this kind of art – the detail shows skills. And I also like the background, the colour really compliments the chipmunk.
Thank you Sandie. So glad you could stop by…..
I am such a huge fan! Thanks for posting the progression….it’s really interesting. Just wanted to tell you one of my favorite parts of this painting is the background!
Yes Amy, I think you are my biggest fan! I love that! Glad you like the background, funny thing is that is where I usually find my biggest challenge…painting the background. I’m experimenting with a more abstract look in my backgrounds…may even start adding a little mix media!