Farm Ants

Farm- Illustration Friday Challenge.
(Originally outlined in Micron pen then coloured with colour pencils.)
This week I had several ideas on what to do for the challenge; however, when my partner mentioned the symbiosis or mutualism between an ant and an aphid I knew which direction I was headed!
Seems that ants have a sweet tooth and aphids produce a "honeydew" type of secretion that the ants like. So...the ants protect the aphids and in return they allow them to "milk" them for the "honeydew!" I am a big nature buff and that was new to me. Hope you learned something new as well! Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Can't we all just get along?!"
Thanks for all your comments!
More information on Ants and Aphids here.

Safe

Harold new he had found the spot and he could finally stop running. Everyone knows there's safety in numbers!

Run

Run - Illustration Friday. Of course as long as the fan was running Sabastian was safe...but what he didn't know was there was suppose to be a storm that evening and the power will likely go out!
I started these two a long time ago and now have a reason to finish them! Here is the preliminary inked piece before I add colour.

You can run but you can't hide from LOVE! This one is in honor of my seven year anniversary today!

Match I,II,III and IV

Match- Illustration Friday
OK...this word really got my creativity flowing for some reason. I couldn't help myself! This first piece done in Micron pen and coloured pencil is my tribute to Anthropologists, archeologists and paleontologists. It always seemed like a neat job to recreate history by matching tiny fragments and pieces. This bowl is a modern piece by a Navajo Indian by the name of Wesley Begay. His work is available at www.rivertradingpost.com


Tennis match anyone?
Remember paper dolls? Here is a boy version! Matching clothes was fun wasn't it?!

OK....this just came out...nothing I could do to stop it.

"Play"

Can you believe this photo was on the front page of the Cape Gazette 4 days after I posted my picture?!

"Playful Dolphins"- (please click on illo to make big) Illustration Friday Challenge for Aug. 11. Please check out other artists entries at Illustration Friday's Website!
This piece took a while to complete. It is inspired by the dolphins that travel up and down our shores here in Delaware. Here are more interesting facts about dolphins at Dolphin Ear.
Here are some people who (I would love to be as good as someday) who have inspired me to work with watercolour more...please check out their sites Courtney Pippin Mather, Wynlen, Gabriella Travaline, Sweet Pea,Kristina Hunt,Gina, Nick, Fenris, and of course, Penelope (who created I-Fri)!
This is just to name a few there are many, many very talented people out there!

I sketched this piece out in graphite on watercolour paper first. Then taped it down and added water colour. I added detail with Sakura ink pens and good ol' Crayola coloured pencils! Really, it looks so much better in real life. The scanner never quite picks up the vibrancy of the colour when you colour by hand!

Speaking of "hand" I went for several tests last week. One was an Electrodiagnostic Test to see how bad my carpel tunnel is (so they can operate!). I am beside myself since I never miss I-Fri challenges!

"Capture"

Capture- Sometimes what you capture you must eventually let go as Kate discovers here with her baby dragon. "Kate was not prepared to let him go just yet." Artists notes: (as always please double-click for detail)This was drawn in graphite then inked over. I added colour on the computer and detailed with coloured pencil and oil pencils. Not sure what the big yellow "cat-like" guy is. Maybe a lioness. I got a little carried away with the vine on the left. If you have an idea for a dragon name (besides "Figment") please let me know. I plan on working more with Kate and her mis-adventures!

Upon researching Baby Dragons I came across this interesting article:
Pickled dragon mystery January 29, 2004

Canned ... pickled dragon thought to be made for a hoax. To see the creature go here:
Essays and Effluvia Another article can be found here: Rense.com

Anyway here's the jist of the story...
A pickled "dragon" that looks as if it might once have flown around Harry Potter's Hogwarts has been found in a garage in Oxfordshire, England.

The baby dragon, in a sealed jar, was discovered with a metal tin containing paperwork in old-fashioned German of the 1890s.

Allistair Mitchell, who was asked to investigate the dragon by a friend, David Hart, who discovered it in his garage, speculates that German scientists may have attempted to use the dragon to hoax their English counterparts at the end of the 19th century, when rivalry between the countries was intense.

"At the time, scientists were the equivalent of today's pop stars. It would have been a great propaganda coup for the Germans if it had come off," Mr Mitchell said.

"I've shown the photos to someone from Oxford University and he thought it was amazing. Obviously he could not say if it was real and wanted to do a biopsy."

The documents suggest that the Natural History Museum turned the dragon away, possibly because they suspected it was a trick, and sent it to be destroyed. But it appears a porter intercepted the jar and took it home. The papers suggest the porter may have been Frederick Hart - David Hart's grandfather.

Mr Mitchell said: "The dragon is flawless, from the tiny teeth to the umbilical cord. It could be made from indiarubber, because Germany was the world's leading manufacturer of it at the time, or it could be made of wax. It has to be fake. No one has ever proved scientifically that dragons exist. But everyone who sees it immediately asks, 'Is it real?"'

Some scientists believe that dragons, though the product of imagination, were inspired by the extraordinary creatures that once roamed the Earth.

As J.K.Rowling's alter ego Hermione Granger once suggested, legends have a basis in fact.

The Telegraph, London

Clean

Clean I. I did this on blue tag board with coloured pencil. Not sure if I like this one or the one where colour was added.
Detail on Clean I.

(Please click to enlarge.)
Clean II the Re-Do- Illustration Friday challenge.'Cleanliness is next to Godliness.' This statement was spoken, I'm sure, years before they ever heard of 'Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!' Check out this website on the origin of sayings to find out more!
Also, check out this awesome site! How to Clean Anything. Don't foget to buy a lint card before leaving!!

Opposite Rhino

Opposite-Illustration Friday challenge. I chose to do something a little different this week. Normally my favourite medium is pen and ink so I thought why not go outside my comfort zone and do white on black paper (the exact opposite of what I normally do!). I used white pencil on black tag board.
I did it again! I dated this almost ten years earlier when it should be 2006! Am I living in the past or what?!

Sacrifice

Sacrifice- "Sometimes we make sacrifices we aren't aware of!"
I'm not happy with this at all. However I am posting it all the same.

Skyline

Life on Earth? Preposterous!
Here is my entry for this past week's Illustration Friday challenge. I still have three other ideas to put to paper. Though this one is yet unfinished I think you'll get the idea. I wanted to post some really neat facts about the moon but decided to give you a neat site about the moon and planets instead.

Sticky*Rainy*Dance- Illustration Friday

Sticky- A quick sketch of an idea I had. Since I missed the last two weeks I wanted to do something and get it in before another week had gone by.
13 hour days at work, a wedding and several Fourth of July picnics have had me busier than "a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest!" Don't miss "Rain" and "Dance" below.
Two years I have stuck with I-Fri...this is the first time I missed any!

Dance- "Margorie knew Harold was having a mid-life crisis; but, when he signed up for belly dancing she had thought there must be more to the picture!"

Rain- In Chili they use dried Quisco Cactus stems to make ceremonial rainsticks
by nailing their long needles back into the stems and adding tiny pebbles. A rainstick may be soothing to listen to, but I have found they quiet a crying child quicker than any method out there!!!!!

Jungle Cat- IF

Jungle Cat - IF
The white tiger (also known as the Bengal tiger) is about 3 meters long, and weighs approximately 180-285 kg (400-569 LB). It’s coat lies flatter than that of the Siberian tiger, the tawny color is richer and the stripes are darker.
White tigers are white colored bengals, they are not albinos and they are not a seperate subspecies of tigers. They have blue eyes, a pink nose, and creamy white furr covered with chocolate colored stripes. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring. Wild white tigers are very rare.

They are usually located on the Mainland of Southeastern Asia and in central and southern India. The white Bengal tiger lives in grassy or swampy areas and forests, where they can be well camouflaged. Those living on islands have almost disappeared; most now live in zoo’s or special wildlife parks.

Even though it is illegal, white tigers are hunted by poachers in many Asian countries. Tiger’s body parts are sought for use in traditional Chinese medicine and exotic recipes. As well as their body parts, their coats can be sold for a small fortune, so to many people this is the ideal animal to hunt if they want some fast money.

There are only approximately 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the wild.

It is belief that if you are born in the Chinese year of the tiger you are unusually lucky. Let’s hope that some of this luck rubs off on the white tiger before it’s too late.

Portrait- Illustration Friday

"Portrait of American History."
Please double click for detail.
I started this piece last year and still haven't finished it. Just the other day I pulled it out and said to myself that I would finish it this week end. When the prompt was revealed I was elated that I could use it since I have put about ten or so hours into it already.
It seems that Native American art has always been a passion of mine.
Now the big question...I have been doing pen and ink for years...with little or no colour. Below I added a bit of colour via the computer. Let me know what you think the answer to my age old question is..."to colour or not to colour!"
With some Colour.

Cake- IF

Cake- "Stanley thought this would be a 'cake job' up until the point he realized he forgot the dog bones!!"

This is not complete...the recent holiday had me building tents, filling pools and grilling so I haven't had the time to work on the I-Fri Challenge!
I really wanted to do an architectural piece about the "Wedding Cake House" in Kennebunk, ME. It is one of the most photographed Gothic Revival buildings in the United States.
More....
Yet, it is not technically Gothic at all.
At first glance, the house may look Gothic. It is lavished with carved buttresses, spires and lacy spandrels. However, these details are merely frosting, applied to the facade of a refined brick home in the Federal style. Paired chimneys flank a low, hipped roof. Five windows form an orderly row along the second story. At the center (behind the buttress) is a traditional Palladian window.

The austere brick house was originally built in 1826 by a local shipbuilder. In 1852, after a fire, he got creative and fancied up the house with Gothic frills. He added a carriage house and barn to match. So it happened that in a single home two very different philosophies merged:

Orderly, classical ideals -- Appealing to the intellect
Fanciful, romantic ideals -- Appealing to the emotions
By the late 1800s, the fanciful, and perhaps overly exuberant, details of Gothic Revival architecture had waned in popularity. Lacy spires and elaborate buttresses were reserved for churches and large public buildings. On private homes, Medieval ideas blended with other types of ornamentation. Trendy new Victorian styles emerged and graceful Queen Anne architecture won the day.

But couldn't find a decent photo that captured the wonder of the house's true architectural beauty.

Check it out:
http://rogershepherd.com/WIW/solution11b/cake.html

The romantic legend arose some fifty years later when an enterprising Kennebunk businessman published a postcard of the house and entitled it "Wedding Cake House." It came to be said that the carving had been done during long lonely hours aboard ship by a recently married sea captain who had had to leave his bride before he even had time to eat his wedding cake. The legend's romance, while inspired by the desire to make money, provides a "sensible" explanation for the likes of such an eccentric architectural artifact. However, the home-improvement scheme of George Bourne, with its aspirations, displaced energy, persistence, toil, and reward is the stuff of legend, too.

Sorry- Illustration Friday

Apology to the Native Americans
Remember the commercial years ago with the Native American? Where they talk about pollution and he has this tear? Well we didn't listen very well.
Then there is all this talk about illegal immigrants. Now, really...Who is the real illegal immigrant here on these United States?
Sorry, my Native American blood gets riled sometimes!

Angel and Devil

"No matter how hard Damian tried he just couldn't make a 'snow devil!!"

"Fat" -Illustration Friday

Artist's Note: When I first read the topic I thought that because it is so similiar to a previous word (gluttony)I might use something from then. (Quite frequently I come up with several pieces for each prompt on Illo-Friday. My goal is to finish at least two.) Then I remembered why I got involved with this was to build my portfolio. So here you have an original.

Whale Blubber- Essential Fat
Whales are warm-blooded mammals that can survive in water temperatures as frigid as the low-40s F. How do they manage to stay warm, even in the ice-cold waters of the North Pole and Antarctica? By wearing a thick layer of fat-called blubber-just beneath the skin.

How does the whale acquire this fat layer? Being mammals, whales suckle their young. A baby gray whale, for example, may drink up to 30 gallons of its mother's milk-which has the consistency of soft margarine-every day! An adult gray whale, on the other hand, may eat tons of crustaceans during a given feeding period. All of this intake is necessary to not only provide the whale with the energy it needs to swim great distances and dive to incredible depths, but to help maintain an essential layer of fatty insulation.

What is unique about baleen whales?
Baleen whales are some of the largest animals on earth. Characteristic baleen plates and paired blowholes help distinguish baleen whales from toothed whales. All cetaceans have a long, strong diaphragm which allows them to rapidly exhale as they surface and quickly inhale before submerging. The phrase "Thar she blows!" was coined by whale hunters who spotted the column of vapor as the whales exhaled.

Why were baleen whales hunted?
Early humans hunted whales for food and oil. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before the invention of plastic, whales were hunted commercially for their baleen or "whalebone" as well as for their oil. The whalebone was used to make women's corsets, buggy whips, and umbrella ribs. Most baleen whale species remain severely depleted because of this commercial whaling.

Baleen refers to the filtering device they have in their mouth in place of teeth. The Blue Whale, The Bowhead Whale, The Bryde's Whale, The Fin Whale, The Humpback, The Minke Whale, The Pygmy Right Whale, The Right Whale, and The Sei Whale are all baleens.

source: U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/NMML and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)- "Secrets of the Ocean Realm."

Under the Sea - Illo Friday

Under The Sea - Illustration Friday - Here are three pieces I did for an informational activity book.
I love doing pictures about the sea, guess it's one of my passions.
Beachcombing - One of my favourite things to do at the beach! You never know what treasures the sea will leave you on the beach. Here on the Delaware coastline there were several shipwrecks from around the 1700's and occasionally coins and other artifacts come ashore! Alas, I have yet to find real treasure. My treasures are the shells, whelk egg cases and fossil rocks!

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Lobster- MMMMMMM!- Once I use to vacation in Maine every summer. We would go to this resteraunt in BoothBay called "The Lobsterman's Co-Op." You could literally pick the lobster off the boats as they came in. By far the BEST sea food I have ever had...besides "The Lobster Pot" in Provincetown, Mass!

Robot- Illustration Friday

(Insert robot voice here)"You are exactly .05 inches northwest of the beech tree which is exactly 37 years old and home to a family of possums! Would you like to play again?" Sometimes Tommy wished he hadn't made his robot to be quite so smart!

Robot- Illustration Friday.
Whew! Just made it! I was striving to get this in Sunday evening but the computer was pre-occupied with my partner's addiction to "Diner Dash!" LOL!
What a busy week end! I am surprised I came up with anything, let alone three pieces. You get to see my favourite. Sorry it's the rough draft...Again, busy, busy, busy!
Oh, and for you info groupies here's a little more...

History of "Robot"
The idea of artificial people dates at least as far back as the ancient legend of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers, and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life. In classical mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power. Jewish legend tells of the Golem, a clay statue animated by Kabbalistic magic. Similarly, in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a clay giant, Mökkurkálfi or Mistcalf, constructed to aid the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor, the God of Thunder.

The word Robot was introduced by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. which was written in 1920 (See also Robots in literature for details of the play).

Concepts akin to today's robot can be found as long ago as 450B.C. when the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum postulated a mechanical bird he called "The Pigeon" which was propelled by steam. Al-Jazari (1136-1206) an Ortoqid (Artuk) Turkish inventor designed and constructed automatic machines such as water clocks, kitchen appliances and musical automats powered by water.

Source is Google's Answers.com.

Spotted Taguas - Illustration Friday

Spotted-
This little ckicky is trying not to be spotted by the cat as the worm comes up for air and is startled by the sight of a bird! He also hopes he isn't spotted. All taking place under and around the spotted mushroom.
Below you will see my inspiration for this cartoon. I use to talk about the alternative to ivory, tagua nut, as art form in my environmental education classes.


TAGUA NUT CARVINGS- A VEGETABLE IVORY
It is a type of coconut seed that comes from the palm tree (Phytelepas Equatorialis) in Ecuador, South America. The coconut's milk solidifies, then is set out to dry under the sun for 4-7 months. It is then as hard as ivory and can be carved. Each fruit of about 25 pounds contains 4 to 9 seeds (or nuts) about the size of a hen's egg. Natives that raise these trees do not cut down the rain forests anymore because these trees are now a source of income. These nuts are hand carved and accented with inlaid wood, tagua shell powder, coconut powder and shell. The caramel colored pieces have been deep fried to achieve this color. Often a small spot of brown nut is left on an otherwise all white carving so it is not mistaken for elephant ivory by customs officials.