Pictured here, my beautiful daughter.
Hope you’re all doing well.
Tag Archives: daughters
Money Whales and Wolverines
My Friends,
This weekend I sketched a gentle humpback whale and an uncooperative wolverine. When uncertain with specific morphology, drawing animals can be challenging. My bathtub is a tad tight for a frolicking whale, and I dare say a feisty wolverine would snack on Mojo the Dachshund. Since I can’t have a play-date with a whale or wolverine, I need to rely on resources. I use my general knowledge to imagine the subject first then roughly sketch out a preferred pose. Next, I research multiple image sources and study them noting specific characteristics. I move on to studio reference books, i.e. Animals in Motion. I use this text to get a sense of bodyweight and movement. Finally, I combine this visual knowledge with a bit of improvisation to render a critter I can call my very own. This is important if one hopes to get published and have no concerns over royalties or copyright issues.
I’d like to introduce you to my newest friends, Henry Humpback and Willard Wolverine born today.
Below Henry and Willard’s pencil sketch, is a post from January 2014 – my first month into blogging. It mentions whales. Notice the clever segue 😉
Posted January 2014
My daughter is in tenth grade. Today she will peruse college course offerings with an eye toward the future. She’s unsure what she wants to do, or who she wants to be. She’s interested in two things – marine biology and making money. At the tender age of fourteen, whatever she decides will probably change. But as long as she’s filled with cockeyed-optimism, she can keep a positive outlook when if they begin downsizing at her job.
I wonder if there is an employment opportunity out there for rescuing money-spouting whales. 🙂
Thank you. May you and your pet wolverine dream of sitting in a whale’s belly for some quality reading time.
Crossing More Than Fingers
Dear Friends,
Over the last few days, I’ve seen two excellent conscience-bearing movies. Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn is based on a true story. It’s a convincing cinematic portrayal of a young college-educated man who forgoes the trappings of society and our manmade shackles. His search for a ‘purer’ existence ultimately brings him to Alaska where he must attempt survival. The other film, The Eleventh Hour, directed by Leonardo DiCaprio lays out mankind’s future if global warming isn’t taken seriously. Both films left me thinking about how I live my life. They left me pondering my children’s futures if we can’t reign in our want, and stop treating nature as a thing to be bartered and sold.
Yesterday my post included a silly Christmas tree. For reference I’d snapped a photo of the delicate daughter crossing her arms. While on a sub break today, I was perusing my photos and stopped at my daughter’s image. I drew her sweet face during lunch. I pray the bright future reflected in her caramel eyes, is the bright future she will have on a beautiful healthy planet…
Thank you. May you dream of pure air and crystal water.
Delicate Daughter sketched today. Little Miss Green Apple below done with Prisma pencils several months ago.
Miss Green Apple
House Mermaids
Dear Friends,
Look ’round your home. If you have a daughter, you have a mermaid. A beautiful, lovely creature who’s sometimes unsure of where she fits in. She is playful like the seal, but can be stormy like the sea. She adores her sparkling fin but pines for shoes. She is bold as the barracuda, when she’s not ‘hermitting’ within a vacated shell. She cherishes her hair, but would trade it to save the world.
My little mermaid above, and my other little mermaid below.
Mermaid Girl
Thank you. May you dream of swimming with dolphins and whales upon a sparkling sea…
Delicate Daughter Mermaid taken in Vermont 2007,
Earth Mermaid created after getting mad at daughter for her messy room.
anntogether 