January's Cold

It has been cold FINALLY!  But ... it WAS cold.  Today will be in the 60's.  Not typical for January here in the piedmont region of NC.  I love snow.  However, this is the first year that I was almost too afraid to get on a sled.  Age does that to a person.  The fear of pain and being debilitated overrides the enthusiasm of fun.
I did get on a sled and go down the hill one time last week after our first real ice storm.  There was no snow but there was enough ice to go sledding with a flat bottom plastic sled.   So I did go down - once.
Maybe if there had been some soft fluffy snow to fall into I may would have been more courageous.
Anyway.... I wanted to show you my latest pride.
I have been meaning to do another sketch of my sister's grandson.  The photo I used is about 6 years old.  But it is such a heart warming photo I wanted to do an artist rendition.
The photo.

I scanned it in, did some editing in photoshop and using a number of special techniques then printed out just the most vague rendering of outlines.  That way I can do all the rest by hand.  The hardest part (for me) is getting all the setup and proportion correct.  So, after using pencils, charcoal and a few other artists sketching tools I ended up with this.

Notice that I moved the bird feeder around for more balance. Although I think i would have prefered it to be out of the picture altogether.  
I scanned the finished product back into the computer which was a little difficult because I printed it out at 17" high.  Then I added a layer of color just to see if I prefered it in color.

Also, my sister had the opportunity to chose which one she prefered.  Now I will print out the black and white one onto watercolor paper and use watercolors to paint it.  It will look much better than the color rendition above (hopefully).
Tell me which one you would prefer.