When my father was ill, I needed to do a simple little something to take a break every once and a while. I can’t say that I progressed very far. This is the state it stayed in for quite a while:

When I was able to devote my full attention to this piece, I went at it with gusto, no longer content to do this as an exercise.

Why a turtle? Having gone to the University of Maryland, whose mascot is the terrapin, turtles will forever loom large in my life. More than that, at the time I wanted to take a step away from mammals and try a reptile. When I found this reference image, I knew that it would be a great subject.