How I make my drawings (step by step)

 How I make my drawings:

First, of course, I look for the basic shapes in the animal I'm drawing: ovals, circles, squares, etc.
I sketch those shapes on my tracing paper. These are my first sketches:

So the sketches are done. What do I do next? 
I trace these sketches onto a better looking paper (I use vellum, you can get this at an art store). I usually use pen to trace them but you can first use pencil if you want to. Here are what my traces look like: 









I then flip my vellum paper over. I do this so the marker I use shows the basic colors of the animal. 

When you are done with that you are going to flip it back over again. Here is what my drawings looks like now:

Now it is time for the last step. The last step is to use colored pencil on my drawing. So after I have flipped it back over I can start that. I start with coloring the white areas on the animal, then I go onto the darker colors. I finish it up with another coat of white. Here are my final drawings: Don't forget to sign your name! 






You might also be wondering what this animal is and what its life is like. Well here are the answers to your questions: 
This animal is a rodent called Red Acouchi. 

They are diurnal, this means that they are active during the day.

During the day they are usually on the hunt for food. They can't climb trees very well so they wait for the food to drop. They are herbivores meaning that they eat leaves and fruit. 

They don't usually live in big colonies like lots of other rodents do. They usually just have a family consisting of a mom, a dad, and 2-3 kids. They have 2-3 babies every year. They hunt for food together, play together, sleep together, and most of their life is together. But when the kids grow up they wander off and make their own families. 

They are around two pounds when they are adult. They are usually 1-2 feet tall including their tail. 
Thanks for reading,
Coco