"Alpaca Kiss" - Love & Fiber

My latest ACEO features a tender moment between an alpaca mom & her baby. Alpaca fact: a baby alpaca is called a cria. Alpacas are native to South America and are closely related to llamas. Their fiber (hair/fleece) is used to create yarn which can be made into wonderfully soft scarves, hats, gloves, etc. Anything that can be made from wool yarn can be made from alpaca fiber.


I used watercolor for the underpainting and color pencil (Prismacolor) for the details on this miniature (2.5" x 3.5") painting. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will benefit Sarvey Wildlife Center. Alpaca Kiss has sold and now lives in Maryland.

My thanks to Granny Maple (the Alpaca Granny) of North Star Alpacas for providing the photo that I used for reference. Alpaca yarn and handmade items from Granny Maple are available in her Etsy shop.


This is the original photo.


I took the original photo, flipped the mother alpaca and moved her up to the top of her baby's head. I cropped and sized that to the standard ACEO size and then filled in the background with a photo of a field of yellow flowers, which I interpreted as dandelions. I also added a dandelion to the cria's mouth in the painting .