a little more on the cinnamon bear

I spent a quiet day at the studio yesterday.... sweeping away the fall leaves, watering plants, making an iced decaf coffee (soon it will be too cold there for that) and working on the bear and a couple of other studio projects. Several people came by and some regular visitors were so charmed by the copper birds that I made with artist Mimi Harris that they asked for her contact information to buy some.... delightful!!!!

I cut in around the bear to begin to show off his chunky wonderful fur, and a base of Payne's Gray on his foot pads will be covered with a pattern of grooved and crevasses. I have been studying a lot of bear paws online and in reference books. More to do with his fur, but this is a good start.... I want to keep these portraits loose and washy (sometimes with drips, like the tiger.... that drip in the lower left corner is my favorite part of the painting!) and I am so looking forward to finishing this piece. Who will be next?

I will need a wonderful font for the ABC letters in the book that I will create from these portraits.... you know:

B is for Bear

with a great font style for the alphabet letter.... does anyone have any ideas for a font?