Sometimes All You Have is 20 Seconds - Maria Hodkins

I was washing dishes at the kitchen window and preparing dinner when I glanced out the window and saw a mule deer at my bird feeder, nibbling the sunflower seeds. I tiptoed to the back room quickly, grabbed my journal and a Graphitints pencil, and just sketched the outline of the deer as quickly as I could get it down. I knew I only had a few seconds before it would move on. Sure enough, it gave me only about 20 seconds as a sketch model, then backed off and joined its companion deer that was waiting in the wings.

I now only had a skeleton of a sketch, so I added the tree (trees you can at least depend on for a model that won't move), and the bird feeder. Later, I got out my "Mule Deer Country" reference book and "fleshed out" my deer's form looking at those photographs, and then splashed on a bit of color. I'm so glad I took the time out to do it--it's a sweet moment captured forever!

Graphitints pencil, watercolor, on Arches Velin in the journal.