In the Studio: Batty

Since things have been kind of dry in the sketching department, i've been doing a lot of cleaning around the house to get my mind off of things.  In addition to the cleaning, i did go ahead and start painting the bat sketch i posted a few weeks ago.  The painting too, is coming along slowly, but i am liking how it's turning out.  i'm pleased thus far with the bat's wings and the lightning bug, especially the sky behind the lightning bug.  Here's some quick pics:

For whatever reason, lightning bugs have always fascinated me.  As a kid, i always loved sitting on the back steps at night with my dog and watching the lighting bugs dot the darkened fields of the farm with brilliant, dancing light.  The farm was my play ground, my entire world.  The glow of the lightning bugs made it seem that much more magical.  Kind of the same way that little white Christmas lights can make anything seem more special.  And bats.  Well, they are just amazing.  They are little furry critters with wings that eat bugs.  What could be better?  Going back to when i was kid (yeah, yeah.  i know, but it's hard to come back after going down nostalgia road), i do have fond memories of watching bats dart and dive at dusk in the parking lot of my brother's apartment.  He would throw pebbles up into the air (not at the bats, just straight up) and we would watch the bats chase the pebbles back to the ground and then, at the last second, dash in another direction.  I just always thought that was sooooooo cool.   When i moved away for college, if i was feeling a little lonely, or just needed to think, i would walk over to the hill next to my apartment and watch the bats feast.  Good times, good times.