This spring we had a nice view of the forest garden from our holiday home. A regular visitor was this red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). He just asked to be put on paper. So I took a number of photos and used one of them as the basis for this painting.

The red squirrel is a species native to the Netherlands. He is very recognizable by the large bushy tail. The squirrel’s Latin name means ‘common shadow tail’. That is because of its characteristic sitting position, with the tail over the back.

The ears of the adults can have long plumes. In winter these are much longer than in summer. The coat color of the back and tail varies from red (orange) to dark brown.

While the red squirrel is our native squirrel, nowadays there is also a lot of growth of the exotic gray squirrel. This one is a food competitor and just as easily steals the food from its red counterpart. The gray species also carries a virus, which does not make it sick itself, but which is fatal to the red squirrel. The gray squirrel therefore poses a threat to the native red squirrel.

Cotman watercolours tubes, Faber Castel Polychromos & Pastel pencils, Posca felt tip pen on Saunders Waterford 300gsm 310×230 Cotton Satiné High White paper

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