Mud Puddle

digital

 This idea came from a couple photos and some imagination.

The photo below is what happens when the adults in the family are sitting out on the back patio, enjoying themselves, and not paying attention the the boys, who are playing merely 30 feet away but ON THE OTHER SIDE of the truck, and out of our view. I was asked to check on them and make sure that Tux (the one on the left) wasn't getting dirty. Uh . . .

 

The next photo was taken at Shawnee Prairie, here in Greenville, Ohio. 

This handsome devil actually seemed to pose for me. 

He's waiting patiently as a larger, nicer enclosure is being built for him.

I thought it would be fun to merge the two photos.

I sent the result to my kids (the parents of these troublesome youngsters),

and my son's response was, "where was I when this happened?!" Haha!

Then, I decided to draw it.

Step One

The background I had added to the merged photo made it look like they were sitting at the edge of a stream. I had lost the mud-puddle look. So I worked on trying to bring that back.

Step Two

I changed the angle of the turtle to give the drawing a bit more energy.

Step Three

I thought I was done here, and let it sit for a couple weeks. You don't see a lot of difference in the finished product at the top of the post, but I lightened the background just a bit more, and darkened the turtle. Also, made it look like he was dripping in mud and not just water. 

As always, thanks for stopping by!