cut to white #naturalscience #natural history illustration of two ref-rumped agout. One is standing, about to walk toward the one of the right. His foot is extended and depsite my efforts not to give him an expression, he has a frightened yet hopeful expression. The other agouti looks tired and sullen, and is holding a half eaten fruit. She is sitting on her haunches. Both have much oranger bums than the rest of their fur which is a mousey brownish purple colour, with paler bellys and darker legs.

Close up of the irritable and tired agouti. You can see the watercoloour brush strokes and the simple approach to getting shine in the eye (leave two spots of paper as white). The chin is pale. Ears are rounded and a brown pink. The agouti has many whiskers. The last sentence sounds like something from a badly translated phrase book, apologies.

Close up of the eager frightened agouti. Again, you can see the different coloured brush strokes, white chest, large eyes (prey species) and rounded ears. Fur is orangish brown with a white chin and chest. Eyes are chestnut brown. As with the other close up, this agouti is also in possession of a fine set of whiskers, including a few exciting ones which emerge from the eyebrow region.

These are Red-rumped #agouti #Dasyprocta leporina nobelie, completed for the National trust of Montserrat. They fill the same ecological niche as rabbits, grazing on grass & fruit. As ever, my #sciart #naturalhistoryillustrations end up having distinct (& usually irritable) expressions. * Sigh *