#214 The Sheep

Animalia: Day 149

The Sheep

No coloring on this one, just a regular ol' drawing.

Tomorrow: the shoebill

#207 The Saiga Antelope

Animalia: Day 142
The Saiga Antelope

After an absurdly long hiatus (4 years, actually... I've
been getting a PhD man, back off!), I drew this HQ:


Look at this Alf-lookin, Gonzo-nosed, vacuum cleaner of an animal!

And that is that!

Tomorrow (but actually right now!): the Sailfish

#198 The Rhinoceros

Animalia: Day 141

The Rhinoceros

After Albrecht Dürer

After Albrecht Dürer + TMNT

Dunno.

Explanation: So I approached this drawing thinking about Dürer's ever-present rhinoceros. Dürer's rhino is a landmark in the history of art and – more importantly for me – in the history of printmaking. Perhaps more broadly, it is a landmark in the history of science and knowledge. It accordingly serves as the cover illustration of Susan Dackerman's exhibition catalogue Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge. I take this print as a teaching point every time I talk about the history of prints and the power of images, especially in terms of multiples. 

(Dürer's Rhinoceros, via wikipedia)

It remains the quintessential image of a rhinoceros. Despite its inaccuracies, this image was powerful enough to shape the very idea of 'rhinocerosness' for hundreds of years after its production. One can read the wikipedia article (yes, it has its own article) for the whole story, but suffice it to say that this image – apart from looking super cool – changed the history of art, science, and knowledge itself.

And it is still effecting images of rhinos, and artists interested in interpreting Dürer's work in countless ways:

Don Moyer's 17 sketches of Dürer's rhinoceros from memory.

Rhino robot.

A reimagining of Dürer's rhino.

Another reimagining, this one with extended neck.

So I thus knew that I too would pay homage to Dürer. I first considered showing a more realistic rhinoceros removing the armor plates that Dürer has applied, as if he were wearing a suit of armor. This website is pretty exciting in showing the armor in its constituent parts. I then was thinking about more anthropomorphic rhinoceroses, and remembered Rocksteady, the constant companion of Bepop, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I remember him from the cartoon, but it occurs to me that I might have had his action figure as well. I can't remember for sure.

Rocksteady (via TMNTpedia)

So I sketched out the body first on paper, then traced it onto the wacom tablet, giving me a basic outline. Since it was a sketch, at this point I hadn't added any of the clothes, but he was posed holding the gun. Then I started adding skin textures. Eventually, I had added textures to the whole thing, but hadn't added the clothes yet. This was more or less the third image posted above. At that point, I knew I wanted to post a version with all the textures visible, but the gun felt too violent, especially given what happens to rhinos in the wild, and other issues with guns happening right now in America. So I added the "Bang" to neutralize that. But it wasn't enough. I forgot about it and moved on to adding the clothes, which went well. I didn't go as far as giving him cargo pants and combat boots, but I still think it reads as Rocksteady without those, especially with the dangling turtle shell at his hips (what was that all about anyways?). Anyways, after having completed the full Rocksteady outfit, I decided to return and remove the gun (first image). It results in a somewhat awkward stance, but I am glad I did it. It is better than a rhino holding a gun for no reason. The monogram was added last, obviously inspired by / derived from Dürer's own. I also briefly considered adding a version of the Dürer rhino as a Judoon soldier from Doctor Who, but decided it would be too much work, and would cover up all the exciting textures anyways. So alas, no Judoon.

But here is a bonus Rhino from a few years ago, drawn from the Natural History Museum's brochure cover.

Tomorrow (probs not tho): the Saiga Antelope.

#197 The Raccoon

Animalia: Day 140

The Raccoon

So as I mentioned yesterday, this is one of a series of three drawings

of forest creatures on different sorts of vessels (plane, submarine, boat).

This was originally going to be a space ship, but I liked it as a sub better

because I could fill it with more animals. But the raccoon is still kind of 

floating in the way he did in my space ship sketches. The More You Know.

I did make one noticeable change in the actual drawing where I moved

the spotlight not he ground so that it lined up better. Cheating happens.

Tomorrow (not really sure what "tomorrow" is, due to time change going from Paris to Ky): the Rhinoceros.

#196 The Rabbit

Animalia: Day 139

The Rabbit

So this drawing and tomorrows – the raccoon (as well as the squirrel) 

– were done in 2011 and 2012 as gifts for my girlfriend at the time.

They form a series of forest animals in different ships of sorts.

Thus, they do not have the requisite "fig..." labels. But I colored them

for the purpose of putting them up for Animalia. It is also why the

animals are kind of secondary to the larger narrative of the image.

In any case, I really like how these turned out, hope you do too.

Strangely enough, they will be getting posted in the opposite order

that they were made. So the squirrel, which won't be up for months,

was actually done in early 2011, with the others done in 2012.

Tomorrow: the Raccoon.

#191 The Psittacosaurus

Animalia: Day 134

The Psittacosaurus

Some simple colors but I like how they turned out.

Wasn't a fan of Barney when that was a thing, but apparently

I am kind of into coloring dinosaurs pink and purple.

Tomorrow: the Pteraspis.

#190 The Pronghorn

Animalia: Day 133

The Pronghorn

My first horned quadruped in a little while!

As much as I dislike all of the images of hunted and dead animals,

I am still pretty into taxidermy and the aesthetic of mounted heads.

Also, ritual masks that are way too big for their own good,

and art that emulates that sort of aesthetic. Anyways I kind of combined

those into a dude wearing a big animal head and dancing.

But I am very happy with how this one turned out.

In any case, I had originally drawn a boring body for this guy,

which reminded me too much of my drawings of the deer and chamois,

so I switched his body out for a human carrying a mounted head.

Which kind of negates this guy's status as a horned quadruped, eh?

Here's how it was originally going to look, via phone photo of process:

Tomorrow: the Psittacosaurus.

#188 The Porcupine

Animalia: Day 131

The Porcupine

A little bit of color.

Tomorrow: the Porpoise.

#187 The Polar Bear

Animalia: Day 130

The Polar Bear

My first memory of an art museum was going to a museum in

elementary school. I don't remember what or where the museum was

(Lexington? Louisville? Cincy?), but I remember our assignment was

to seek out an artwork we liked and copy it. I picked a drawing (or was it

a print?) of a polar bear. A very simple line drawing. I remember copying

it closely and noting the curvature of the back and the hump where the

shoulder blades protrude. I was very young. But it has stuck with me,

very clearly, for some reason or another. It was not a sitting polar bear.

I can picture it very clearly. In any case, I don't think I have drawn a

polar bear since then. And for some reason the task seemed daunting.

But then I did it. So here's that.

minimal background.

Tomorrow: the Porcupine.

#186 The Platypus

Animalia: Day 129

The Platypus

Sketches. 

In retrospect, maybe I shoulda tried one with super long limbs.

Kept colors simple.

Did a big batch of scans so Animalia is back on for a few days.

Tomorrow: the Polar Bear.

#180 The Pig

Animalia: Day 128

The Pig

Trying to do more graphic style. Obviously indebted to Mignola.

I was also consciously avoiding drawing a cute pig.

Too many of the pictures of pigs on the internet are cute.

+ colors.

Tomorrow (not really tho, no scanner): the Platypus.

#177 The Panther

Animalia: Day 125

The Panther

Everything about panthers was giving me trouble.

Face shape, making them look mean instead of cute, legs, body, etc. 

So one of the doodles turned out alright and I went with it.

Minimal color, which for some reason still took forever;

made lots of tiny choices regarding placement of highlights, 

color, opacity, softness, etc. Not sure it paid off...

Tomorrow: the Parrot.

#176 The Pangolin

Animalia: Day 124

 The Pangolin

I should really start doing backgrounds... 

Eh, maybs not.

The pangolinnnn.

Tomorrow: the Panther.

#175 The Panda

Animalia: Day 123 

The Panda

A friend / fellow resident let me use her scanner!

So there should be a steady stream of drawings for the next few days.

I didn't want to make a cutesy cute panda, but had a hard time

making him look vicious, so I put him on a pile of skulls.

Tomorrow: the Pangolin.

#173 The Pachycephalosaurus

Animalia: Day 122 

The Pachycephalosaurus

Finished the one of the left, then experimented with 

ink textures and patterns, didn't turn out great.

So just kept the one on the left.

I need to work on backgrounds, I suppose...

Tomorrow (probably not, it's Bastille day!): the Panda.

#172 The Oviraptor

Animalia: Day 121 

The Oviraptor

Here is the black and white unedited:

I did the big one in brush pen, and after it was finished,

I realized I had neglected the ovi- in oviraptor.

So, I drew the little sketch at the bottom right in homage of Birdo.

Also, there is a HORSE The Band song about Birdo, which at the
beginning samples a bit of Gollum from the animated Hobbit movie.

Color update will be added later, perhaps tomorrow.

EDIT:
Colors!

I wanted to add some yellows and lime greens,
but wasn't able to make it look good. Wompadoooo.

Tomorrow (maybe? might fall behind): the Pachycephalosaurus.

#171 The Otter

Animalia: Day 120

The Otter

Silverpoint on terraskin, again. 

(I tried to capture some Tracy Morgan-ness in the otter at top left.)

And then traced and colored digitally.

Tomorrow (probably actually!): the Oviraptor.

#170 The Ostrich

Animalia: Day 119

The Ostrich

Preliminary doodle.

I did the sketches on the left first, then wanted to exaggerate the

small head, so I did the thumbnail sketch at the bottom.

Then I tried to blow that up, which was not entirely successful.

So then I photoshopped it to be roughly the proportions I wanted.

I tried coloring too, but it was a mess, so you get the grayscale (er, silver).

I am in Paris right now in residency at the Cité Internationale Des Arts,

making drawings and what not, but more on that in another post.

I did these animal drawings a few months ago, but they are silverpoints,

which are apparently difficult to document. 

My scanner blew out the images, and photographing them yielded 

mixed results, but that is what I ended up using.

Anyways, silverpoint on Terraskin, which is paper made from stone.

Tomorrow (maybe actually?!): the Otter.

#165 The Orangutan

Animalia: Day 118

The Orangutan

Sketches. 

More sketches.

Traced on the Wacom tablet, so this one is entirely digital.

Throwin' barrels and stuff.

I love their neck flab that moves around when they walk.

Bonus color variation: Yeti Orangutan

Bonus color variation: Gorilla Orangutan

Tomorrow: the Ostrich.

#164 The Opossom

Animalia: Day 117

The Opossum

It's an Animalia post!

Hot dang!

The possum. O is for optional.

Possums are surprisingly hard to draw.

The face on this one ain't quite right,

a little too badger-y.

O WELLZ.

Tomorrow: the Orangutan.