Thursday, December 22, 2005

Illustration Friday: IMAGINE







late again!!! this is just about my favorite thing in the world to do - make things up! i used to do it all the time, but i never get the time anymore. but in keeping with the imagine theme - these are drawn from my head, with the exceptions of referencing a zebra for correct stripe pattern, and a friend's photo of her cat for positioning.

this is a beginning. i was planning on inking them, but i ran out of time - what with christmas cards to do! speaking of which - here is a special holiday greeting for all my friends out there in the blogosphere! Enjoy.

as I was working on these drawings over the last few days, I shared them with some friends and discovered that none of them had ever heard of a narwhal, but I assure you it is a real creature. Check here to learn more.


UPDATE:
I thought I'd add some of my notes for a little look into how I arrived at these creations. I started out with a little word play brainstorming. This always helps to get to me focused on the theme, if I don't have an idea to start with. I also look around for some quotes that might inspire me.


But I wasn't really getting anywhere with that, so I moved on to the hybrid idea. This was something I loved to so as a kid, and since I always drew from my imagination when I did it, so I thought it'd fit the topic perfectly. I quickly wrote down as many animals as I could think of - then started mixing the names. You can see I started out with LOTS of mixed animals, but in the end I decided to keep it a simple combination of only two.

19 comments:

Doug said...

You do great animals! That's interesting... just this week I heard a bit on NPR about someone who was studying narwhal's long tooth... which is soft on the outside and harder on the inside... the opposite of ours.

No need to ink these... they look great in pencil!

melinda beavers said...

Jonesy - I heard the same story! I love NPR. But I learned about Narwhals a long time ago - given their connection to unicorns.

LDahl said...

These are absolutly fantastic! (in the truest sense of the word) I completely love them all!!!!!!!
In fact, I love everything I've seen on your blog. Really,you are a talent:)
Thanks for the extra special Christmas card!

Anonymous said...

These are great drawings...very creative!!Zebrabbit, my favorite.
-Marjorie Ann

valerie walsh said...

These drawings are absolutely amazing! I love them!!! And the card you made is soooo deeliteful! Thank You!

Anonymous said...

neat drawings. I saw something remarkably similar at the bookstore the other day. great artists think alike, i guess

melinda beavers said...

LDahl, Majeak Ann, and ValGalArt - thank you!

celia, if you go back to that book store anytime soon, I'd love to know the title and artist - I always like to see what's out there

Rayne said...

These are fantastic! Platypussy is my favorite.

wonil said...

fantastic! i love them all but my most favorite is the Zebrabbit! hope to see them finished. :)

Aravis said...

These are amazing! Truly wonderful illustrations.

Anonymous said...

Zebrrabit has eyes I could gaze into forever :) Beautiful work!!! Very imaginative!

Unknown said...

AWESOME drawings!! V creative!

Trout Fishing on Oahu said...

Very, very cool animals. I just love the weirdness!

Zórdís said...

So Cool. Like the peak of the Platypussy.....not so scary but adorable. Very funny illo.

carla said...

Wow! I love the way your mind works and how you translate it to paper! These creatures are absolutely amazing from concept to rendering...excellent:>>>> And your holiday card series is delightful as well...Merry Christmas to you:>

Christine Lim said...

Hey! these illos are superb. How creative! well done, M.B.

madretz said...

You are soo incredibly talented and imaginative! These amazing drawings and designing all those architexture elements for EK success...you're creative mind never takes a break!! Love it all!!

Unknown said...

These are awesome! You must go further with these, look at the art of Laurie Hogan for some weird animal animal mixing inspiration. But, I really love what your doing, and you are so good at colored pencil!

Anonymous said...

Love your zebrarabbit...cool blog..found you through portrait party..sandy

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