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Description

The black and rufous elephant shrew, black and rufous sengi or Zanj elephant shrew (rhynchocyon petersi) is one of 17 species of elephant shrews - which, despite their name, aren't closely related to shrews at all. With a body length of around 28 cm and a tail which is almost equally long, it is also of the largest species. The black and rufous sengis live in monogamous pairs and use their long - and highly moveable - nose to find and dig out insects. They also make ground level nests out of leaves for shelter.

Although they only live in the Eastern Arc mountains of Tanzania and Kenya, the species is listed as "least concern" and is not endangered.

(The SeldomSeenSpeciesSunday is a challenge first made by TheCynicalHound , which I'll try to do this year .)

Honestly, this critter looks like they belong in a children's book rather than anywhere else. The colors, the tiny legs, the long nose, the huge black eye - it's straight out of a cute fantasy story. So, once I saw them, I knew I had to include them into the challenge.

Also, while it is not immediately visible, this was drawn on grey paper. It was much easier than the champagne-colored one from last week, and allowed me to do the background quickly, but it also has a bit of a rough texture I'm not too pleased with.

Want a drawing like this? My commissions are open: Commission info

Prints, pillowcases, phone covers, notebooks, etc. can be found on my Redbubble store: www.redbubble.com/people/Becky…

Reference photo by Mouselemur Go give it (and Mouselemur's gallery in general) some love!

Colored pencil on colored paper, A4, 12 hours?

Please do not repost, claim as your own or use in any way without my permission.

Other recent drawings:

My tutorials:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...

Description

The black and rufous elephant shrew, black and rufous sengi or Zanj elephant shrew (rhynchocyon petersi) is one of 17 species of elephant shrews - which, despite their name, aren't closely related to shrews at all. With a body length of around 28 cm and a tail which is almost equally long, it is also of the largest species. The black and rufous sengis live in monogamous pairs and use their long - and highly moveable - nose to find and dig out insects. They also make ground level nests out of leaves for shelter.

Although they only live in the Eastern Arc mountains of Tanzania and Kenya, the species is listed as "least concern" and is not endangered.

(The SeldomSeenSpeciesSunday is a challenge first made by TheCynicalHound , which I'll try to do this year .)

Honestly, this critter looks like they belong in a children's book rather than anywhere else. The colors, the tiny legs, the long nose, the huge black eye - it's straight out of a cute fantasy story. So, once I saw them, I knew I had to include them into the challenge.

Also, while it is not immediately visible, this was drawn on grey paper. It was much easier than the champagne-colored one from last week, and allowed me to do the background quickly, but it also has a bit of a rough texture I'm not too pleased with.

Want a drawing like this? My commissions are open: Commission info

Prints, pillowcases, phone covers, notebooks, etc. can be found on my Redbubble store: www.redbubble.com/people/Becky…

Reference photo by Mouselemur Go give it (and Mouselemur's gallery in general) some love!

Colored pencil on colored paper, A4, 12 hours?

Please do not repost, claim as your own or use in any way without my permission.

Other recent drawings:

My tutorials:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...