Hey art fans!  Bringing you a little recap today of the progress for the Alphabet Animal Art Challenge I started at the beginning of the year.  If you missed the original post you can find it here.  We have now made it through the first six letters:  A-F!  (And are currently in the midst of the two week time frame for the letter G).  Here is a look at the first 6 animals I chose to create:

So far I am very happy that I embarked on this journey.  I have really stretched myself with some of these characters.  It is forcing me to step outside the box. Here are some thoughts as I reflect on the challenge to this point:

• Looking back on the first six characters you might notice that the armadillo looks a little different than the rest.  I decided after I created him that I wanted to try for a more “cute” look to my characters and to be a little more playful with them.  I think this has been achieved!
• I have no idea why I chose bats for the letter B.  It seems a weird choice to me now, although I did have fun creating their “looks”.
• I thought the deer would be the most difficult for me but in the end it was actually the elephant that caused me the most trouble.  She is actually my favorite so far though, so completely worth the effort!

Overall, I think I am starting to have a nice collection of characters to add to my portfolio and future projects!  Ideas for incorporating them into seamless patterns are already running through my mind.

I am especially excited about how many others have joined in the fun!  I absolutely LOVE seeing them pop up in the #alphabetanimalart2017 tag on instagram.  Such a wonderful collection of creativity in a wide array of styles!   Here is a look at some of the stand-out designs that were posted for the letters A-F:

I’ll start with the letter A.  And first up is an alligator by Noa of worldofpineapple.  I love the bold colors she chose for her illustration and the clever way she made her letter “A” match her animal.

Guncha from gunchakumar chose an Ant for her letter A.  I love how she decided to have him pose with the letter itself!  (Looks like the A is barely staying put!)

Next is the Letter B and for this one I have 2 different beavers to share!

Tina from tinatidesign created this adorable beaver!  I love his over-sized teeth:  Perfect for gnawing down the toughest of wood (or carving a pencil-like log!)

Nehal Desai of designedbynehal also created an adorable beaver. He looks so innocent holding that little branch!  Love her color choices and the tones and subtle textures she achieved.

Onto the letter C!  Stacey of peppypattern created a happy crab!  I am a big fan of hatching and fills and I love how she creatively combined them with subtle color variations on its legs.

For the letter D we not only have a dog, but it is a dachshund!  (Double letter D) This stunning illustration was created by Jill of jillbyersdesign.  She has placed each of her animals in a lovely scene.  I absolutely love the old German town setting she chose for her dachshund (and his matching lederhosen)!

Last but not least is Brooke from the busybdesignstudio.  Brooke is one of my “real world” friends and we met through the world of architecture (Me, buildings, Brooke, landscape).  I have loved seeing Brooke’s animals for this challenge and discovering a whole other artistic style she has! My favorite of her posts so far is this lovely elephant she has named Esme.  The flower crown she gave her is the perfect delicate touch of feminine.

You might notice I have not included any outside artist’s work for the letter F.  Sadly, enthusiasm for the challenge has dwindled as the weeks have progressed and there was not a really another F candidate from an artist not already shown here. (I made the decision to only chose one work by each artist).  I really hope that after this post there will be a renewed enthusiasm for the challenge because as I said earlier I have really loved seeing what others have created!  And if you are new to the challenge (or perhaps got a little lasped in your posts) feel free to jump right in at any letter!  We are currently on the letter G!

I hope you have enjoyed this recap and all the animal creations both here and on instagram!  Excited what comes in the next batch of letters!

Happy creating!

Brenda