One of my favorite stops when I visit The Calgary Zoo is the meerkat enclosure. A colony will always have one meerkat standing guard, which puts him or her at the highest point in the area, keeping a lookout for predators. It’s an instinctual trait as it occurs even with meerkats who are born in captivity. They just take turns. While they have nothing to fear from predators at the zoo, this behaviour is fantastic for taking reference photos. You couldn’t ask for a better subject as one will turn this way and that, remaining as still and posed as a fashion model in a photo shoot.
This painting is still pretty rough but it was a lot of fun. I will probably be painting more of these little critters in the near future.