Paint Party Friday #22

   Sorry, no goofy geckos this week guys! But I have a wonderful reptillian story to tell ya! Last week at work we rescued a baby Blue Tail Skink from getting run over by one of our production carts. ( thanks Hazel !) I have been wanting to photograph one of these gems for years now , so instead of just taking him outside the building and letting him go in the field, we found an empty water bottle ( thanks Sandy!) and coaxed him into it. I left the lid off and carefully slid the bottle into my bag and transported him home. I took a few shots of him in the bottle just in case he made a run for it before I could get him into the big plastic box of props I prepared for his "photo session". ( those came out great too!). Then I let him slide out of the bottle and into the clear plastic box. I gently slid a wood plate under him and began shooting ! He was a sweetheart and stayed perfectly still! Next I took the plate away and traded props for a southwest table runner. That was more difficult as he loved all the folds and kept trying to hide in them, but I still got some great shots! Last of all was the most risky but the shot I had dreamed of on the way home, a bright orange craft lid for a backdrop! The trouble was that the lid was bigger than the box he was in,and I knew he would use it as his escape route and climb out. Sure enough he made a run for it and climbed out via the bright orange ramp! But he stopped long enough for me to get a couple awesome shots!!!! I took a few more of him jumping on to my shoe and then running along our porch edge and finally down to a cool hole in the cement, ah home sweet home!

    Whew, nuff said, now the paint party part. The photos came out so cool , I couldn't resist painting a large watercolor from them ( or one at least). It usually takes me a couple months to paint one that size ( 22X30) so instead of ACEOs I'm gonna share the work in progress for the next few PPFs, so here's the start, not much just pencil and the magic blue tail and the yellow stripes. I'll include the photo on the orange lid too! OK  dont forget to check out all the other entries and big hugs to Eva and Kristen for hosting our party! ROCK ON GECKOANS!!!!!