The White Squirrel

The White Squirrel showed up in our yard right around the time we installed a new fence.  The squirrel had a very unusual, almost white or cream colored coat that was very close the color of the new fence.  Further research revealed that he is probably a leucistic white squirrel, and not a true albino squirrel.  Leucistic squirrels have white or creamy fur and typically brown or black eyes.   True albino squirrels are much whiter with red eyes.  Scientists believe that leucisim is based on DNA, but environmental factors may result in epigenetic changes to gene expression. The white squirrel and the new fence happened around same time that a pair of red-tailed hawks also showed up on our property.  Changing colors to match the fence would seem to give a white squirrel a bit of extra protection from the hawks.

I sketched this with my automatic HB pencil, based on a picture of our backyard.  I used two Conte a Paris Pencils, Pastel 008 (bright spring green) and Pastel 030 (deep forest green).  I laid down a base of light green, and filled in the more shady spots with a layer of dark green.  These pencils are interesting because they have a soft, powdery texture, almost like charcoal.  To achieve a sun-dappled effect, I used a kneadable eraser to lift some highlights which I then filled in with a Faber-Castell light yellow ochre watercolor pencil.

For the squirrel, I used a a Prismacolor burnt ochre pencil for light touches of brown which I blended with a soft white charcoal pencil.  Then I added light touches of yellow ochre until it looked about right. I used my HB pencil to strengthen the outline with a few restatements. 

The fence was similar, except that I used a metallic silver colored pencil for additional highlights.