Beaver Lodge Cutaway Sketch

Certain things pose particular challenges when trying to illustrate a concept, such as how to show an entire environment, including both the inside and outside, in a single image.  I say illustrate, because whenever this type of problem is posed, it usually is not something to be solved using photography. This conundrum is often best solved by doing a cutaway illustration. I am working on just such an illustration right now for an educational publisher.  As I gathered information to design my own version of the cutaway beaver dam, I was surprised how poorly rendered most of such existing illustrations were. I ended up relying on photography to inform me on what the beavers and their houses looked like  and then created my own version. I referred to elements from dozens of sources to come up with my drawing, which I hope not only solves the problem, but does so in an aesthetically pleasing way. I am pretty happy with how it is coming together. I will post the fully rendered color version when it is complete.