Red Fox

I decided to focus on the fox for my research methodology project. I have always been fascinated by foxes, considering I had seen one bareley a handful of times in real life as they are such timid creatures. I began looking at lots of different species of fox, but quickly settled on the Red Fox. Having grown up in a fairly country-based town, I would frequently wake in the night startled by the sound of a Foxes shrill cry. However it would be near impossible to catch a sight of the sly creatures as they would lurk in the shadows in my then overgrown childhood garden.

I think the fact that I knew Foxes were difficult to catch a glimpse of created an interest within me for the creatures, and as a child I would constantly be fascinated if I caught sight of a Fox skulking into a bush in the day, or scuttling across a land at night. This Idea of a child so fascinated by a particular animal, yet not being able to see it with their own eyes, gave me quite a distinct idea. I knew I wanted to act on my love for children's illustration within this project, so that was the path I decided to go down, and I created Ella and Fox. A story based around a girl who finds all of the clues to a living creature in the forest, but cannot see this creature, so she goes searching for him, and learns all about foxes along the way. It seemed to me that as the character was discovering this information about the animal, the child reading the story would too, so it became a sort of mini fact file as well as a children's story. I had a lot of fun on this project!