Of all of the organisms I have illustrated, the anteater is the one I’ve learned the most about. In order to create the composite of the head, I had to study up on the skeletal and muscular structure. The most useful resources included a paper titled “Morphology, evolution and function of feeding in the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)” by Virginia Naples as well as an articulated skeleton from the Burke Museum’s mammal collection.

I wasn’t satisfied with my first attempt at the final illustration, so I turned it into a testing board for the gouache and colored pencil. I was able to work out the texture of the fur and muscle so that my final final turned out better than I had expected.