![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EogNrvAkuGE7gVAXkkL41K5jagsJj58ckjaxvRJRLoc8kEhLrWP4HpJPJbkBt2Vm9wA.jpg) Hey Hive! We're back again with another Art Attack! If you're new to the series, this is where I share my drawings and the process behind them. A behind-the-scenes look at my artwork, if you will. This is not to say that I'm very good at art, or that I'm a professional in any way. In fact this is the opposite, and serves as a reminder to how I first started, and lets me track my progress too! Sean's birthday was a few weeks ago, and for the past few years I've been giving him my art in different forms. Two years ago, I gifted him a custom shirt I made based on a different shirt he has that he really likes. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wCL64nf2CzwMRr6kLCQA2Q3hfKDBSHkWwUgjxrgXXU13f18FMfQVK8tDitoSEyAwXwn.png) Here's the [link](https://hive.blog/hive-156509/@taco.cat/art-attack-168-a-new-ddr-shirt-for-ddr-boi) to that post if you want to check it out. Since I've yet to write about it, I thought I'd share a special piece I did for him last year! I initially got the idea for his present when I came across this ad for custom jigsaw puzzles. This got me thinking if I could draw my own piece and have someone print and cut it out for me into a puzzle, and I managed to find a shop online that will do that and deliver it to me! ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wCFvZhdGKwXPAM9ueediMaL8j9xsvg5zFWUqxGEYUd1L5isf3BLwfhNMKthnJyLt82N.png) I was thinking of what I could draw for him, and while I was looking back at all the art I've done for him I came across [this piece](https://hive.blog/hive-156509/@taco.cat/art-attack-117-picnicking-with-our-favourite-doggos) from a few years back. I wanted to redo it or make something better, especially since we have a lot more doggos that we follow now. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EppP6i4t7TBRbj2RoSUFZ3Xga122Fp4TthGxvDtxMeRW1o95onJ96qhQoKMLWeQUs8L.png) I wanted to include as many of the doggos and cattos that we follow online, so it took quite a bit of research and screenshots to get the references I wanted. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23uR5G3fShg15DW3jsswXatPUJKsFzcpd1aa7mVbLqgRDAppMFoCmKCtgaFVRAQahHXZF.jpg) I don't even think this is all of them but I tried to compile as many as I could. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23viCZV4P8wZ57AmVdfhfoCmtAGiiVGNSgYN2PJQ8hzdECkuUiFCYZawAu5GBGGyyt23P.jpg) These are all real pet social media accounts that we have been following for years. Other than the skateboarding English bulldog which is just from a video we watched. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23viCrvEN9ny1DFYbrogZZxBunCsTJdVWNcf9mkWLmgyZyokVgMUyFovs4PbP926Mt46F.jpg) Since I was including so many characters I had to make the background simple and have plenty of space. My idea was to make it a beach party theme since his birthday is during summer time. I went with a nice beach background that I referenced from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/2424AYSNEUsWc2CBEj6yYQRMAYwu4VmDjEDN2JywfbjEcBSoPqMwpMWZN1j6oYHhKmHVV.png) Here's the sketch: ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tcNeS8TkYdk25dj3G2H6hhbLGkX62YC6L22QnUDth5q3fZp7ZhvTV2iEsCwAk4Swgeu.png) For the dogs I wanted to draw them in a cute style like this, but then I realised it might be a bit difficult to recognise them if I make them all a similar style. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wgefaTxZ5umhKVVTDyxJkjYGbV3Zwo6MYtwHwZYLi4vCgz2iKmsRBNRgtFPKsvrQZ3e.png) So I scrapped that and just went with tracing their outlines and drawing in their facial features. It worked for most of them but the fluffy pommies were a little difficult. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tHbP3h3RAPQY2XGDwBp3r9eKuxtjwwD8Tj8UiWqjQG4SfrFY5LVxL9GwZgvzBvEJ4rU.png) Since there were so many characters I wanted to create a somewhat cohesive scene so I could group the doggos together. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23t7DGPNCPz2EG5ekKNPfhjMLD8iHGqfnscNpbCLXnQvM23jEr4AdKRHTqPqoCFKdEPHe.png) These were my notes, and I wanted to have different sections like a juice bar, a coconut tree, a big blanket in the middle and some chairs at the side, all with different characters. Since some of the doggos we follow have also unfortunately passed away, I wanted to immortalise those by drawing them in the sky. After some time sketching, this was the full sketch: ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wCZSCEW6C3eEBLK3qCetTCLASRv8T18vG9SoSb2ncrph7bHd5RSGW3zwvRyY5zAvabP.png) I wanted to try a different style without hard outlines so the next step was to go straight into colours! I started with the background first based on screenshots from Animal Crossing. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EqUghELkYbePp9whELMJDg22aFa2Ep5EF7NjyUGLTNeUnp77zxMy7UYBinqR6AX2vPF.png) Then I started to fill in the characters one by one. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/244op9sx9aBQCTCCmyXsTgcGP7b4C9jGB9oqcgpoHQ7UEuFLerPmRu5We3RGFs1Ehm2ME.jpg) I know I said no hard outlines but I figured since Olaf is a comic book character that it would suit him. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23u6FiDGbh2cwUWNRCjvsZSbACrUHhKejWWoWcSzfU2cARoAU9L3uZ1tPreRthnunfVbD.png) It definitely took a lot of time and a lot of layers. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/242s84DmSyd1JiAESPxXt49sMvxeSi7qXJQXV4Jqjk74hMeSbuGXDDUUuxBogR4uW7m5T.png) I still couldn't get the pommies to look right but I tried my best. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/242hixrYLpyhQHe3HwxgGyCZWSrQQtRDNfZkLcf3bWwYABY8FHAV3xoSHALYe7sjEsQxY.png) In the end we get this for the full piece!I'm not sure if this is that cohesive and the perspective and shadows are off but honestly by the end I was just exhausted. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/2432UMgseyGdCqy1QdkqxM9NRh4aVKxN93zgseNg6whWecL46tMUKjxwG9wrmN723SQdd.jpg) I was also on a time crunch since I had to send this to the printing company to get them to print it on a puzzle and deliver it in time for Sean's birthday! I don't remember when I started doing this but the idea was in the works at least 2-3 months in advance. I think the actual planning and drawing took about 3 weeks or so. When the puzzle arrived I was so excited! The printing quality was surprisingly good too, but it came completed already so they could transport it so I had to take it apart before I gave it to Sean on his birthday! https://youtu.be/kFWPS9iD7hc?t=9386 We actually ended up doing the puzzle together during a stream, and you can see the whole process from start to finish in the video above, starting from 2:32:55. Timestamps are in the description as well. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EokdcTmSXKTt43U4cxMouMzgY7FBM1QCniHpenVSB7us748AosX83TGYqXAHbT7yWdM.png) Sean said he hasn't done a jigsaw puzzle since he was about 5 years old. So I asked him if he wanted to look at the complete picture to work out the puzzle but he insisted on doing it without the reference, which definitely made it a lot harder. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wWwRGNasVPGBAS7JwZwVjCayNNeimmW3hrT9iuEpxY3kSdV8qKstFQwN54YWaYhyoBQ.png) I think he had a lot of fun though! I helped him along here and there but I was mostly chatting with my viewers while he worked on it. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23z7LMiuzWbuLXgWUn3e1CHJkovspvtvttY7kraWEdZ8S83PW9XNqfJ6T1kcC8U9mvPfw.png) ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23wgYXmM6BvFABPrVnep2YUiU7MPT25ZEBY7MJqnPAY4wCZZHzeudFtZZgNZ2NJ68zkAM.png) The whole puzzle was 200 pieces and about 70% in I think he was mentally exhausted. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23xVMPLfXQ8udfQL6mwCCajR8ariNyiQZw54noUaPtY1kmAQ6iTkJzHQcwrvzsGNcYmvX.png) But it was all worth it in the end to see his smiling face when he finally finished it! We didn't have a frame for it so we put it back in the plastic that it came in so we could keep it. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23xAXuQoApBAdN9imKaBmsZZX8x6ysrENQhc5Q4F9ik1VFBzKgTTfurjD7hypkobz97sj.png) Since then we've gotten a frame and the completed puzzle is now hanging above our dining room table. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EogNrvAkuGE7gVAXkkL41K5jagsJj58ckjaxvRJRLoc8kEhLrWP4HpJPJbkBt2Vm9wA.jpg) This is probably one of the more special art presents I've given him. Maybe next time I'll try to do another puzzle for him to match but in a completely different style? We'll see. Thanks so much for reading! https://i.imgur.com/PXZB7ti.gif

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

----------------------------------------- Check out my previous post in this series! Art Attack #229: Richy Rich MonopolyCat 🤑 https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/AK3fxSHenYFEi6WdVgKriYpMZLcxUqVVU1pUvATyyvR37idAhTy7HbqVFcDXxyj.png

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