The strawberry thief

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my spouse one day if he had eaten the hanging strawberries. They had disappeared so neatly and completely that I was puzzled. When birds are the culprits, there are usually some pecked bits left, either on the plant, on the ground, or the terrace railing.

When he guessed the squirrel was responsible, I responded skeptically that we would have probably spotted it by now. It didn't take more than a couple of days before we caught the squirrel in the act. There it was, happily munching away even on the slightly raw strawberries.

So, I've only been able to dream about strawberries at my drawing desk, as they disappear so quickly that we don't even see any bright red.

Below you can see the strawberry illustration's layers in 5 seconds. (Psst… The phase where the strawberries momentarily look like they're moldy is when highlights are added. The transparency just needs to be set right so that the effect makes the berries look tasty instead of moldy.)