Arctic All-Star - Original Artwork

This is one of my favourite characters and favourite pieces that I have ever drawn. I can really imagine him thundering around a big frozen lake-rink! I am most happy with his cute fluffy ears and cheeky smile and determined eyes. This is one of the very few drawings of a character with open eyes as I tend to draw them beaming in ecstasy!

This character exists across another card and will feature in more to come. He is the hubby of Mama Polar Bear from Cool Baby Shower and you can find him in the sequential 1st Birthday card.

The piece itself was made as follows:
~ I originally sketched him more loosely using pencil in my Erlenmeyer Character sketch book (photographed!)
~ I got a new piece of Arches Aquarelle Hot Pressed 300gsm watercolour paper, and copied the sketch cleanly and precisely onto this using my 0.03mm Staedtler mechanical pencil.
~ I went over the pencil with a combination of 0.05mm and 0.1mm Staedtler Pigment Liners.
~ After leaving it to dry for a day or so, I coloured him with a tiny paint brush using my Erlenmeyer palette (that I’ve used since the beginning of creating the World of Erlenmeyer) - from my Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Sketchers' Pocket Box. I work using lots of water and build the pigment up in layers, tending to stick to neutral hues.
~ Once dried, I cut around the outline of the character using a scalpel, and mounted this on another piece of watercolour paper which measures 10 x 15cm.
~ It is currently framed simply in a miniature Ikea frame which I think suits it well, but you would easily be able to remove it from this and frame it differently as to your taste.

Original piece created by Stephanie Avila Gray.