A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Goldfish

Goldfish colorfully speaking are some of the most beautiful animals in the world. Their patterns resemble those of koi, which are equally as attractive to look at. Apparently during the Tang dynasty, it was popular to dam carp ponds, and people thus began to breed and domesticate them. In 1162 people outside the royal family were forbidden to keep fish of the gold/yellow type because yellow was the color of the imperial family.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Blue Jay

I have an automatic association with Canada when I think of blue jays, just because of the baseball team I guess. The birds themselves have a range of eastern and central North America, going up into Canada. So, yeah....

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Spider Crab

I saw one of these the first time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium a few years back and I thought it was SO cool. The texture, size, and pure natural design of it was just awesome. I'd like to consider this one the clandestine brother of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Puppy!

Puppies!

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) My happy Xmas cat, Tuna

Enough said...

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Rattlesnake

The Rattlesnake! A very dangerous venomous species that rattles its tail when threatened. "The rattle is composed of a series of nested, hollow beads which are actually modified scales from the tail tip". The rattle noise is made when these beads shake up against each other. New ones are formed each time a snake sheds its skin. Baby rattlers cannot make the noise since they only have one bead at the time of birth. It isn't until their first molting that they gain the additional bead and have something to rattle against.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Canadian Geese

Canadian Geese. Ahhhhhh, the lovely birds responsible for covering our driveway with their "goodness" when I was younger. I still see them honking all over the parks here in the bay area. It's a honking voice you can't miss. Good times!...just try not to be under them as they fly through the sky.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Raccoons

Raccoons are my animal of the day, inspired by listening to a friend of mine telling of raccoons spying in on her at her apartment in SF. They're cute, but definitely not so innocent.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) American Bison

Welllllllllllll, they're also called buffalo, but apparently they're only distantly related to either of the "true" buffalo, the Asian and African buffalo. Bison is a Greek term meaning ox-like animal, and buffalo was a name given to it's European and Asian counterpart by French fur trappers. This one's a little sleepy.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) African Wild Dogs

African Wild Dogs! Some just think they look like mutts, but I think they're beautiful. Animals are built for their terrain, and these dogs' coats help them blend in with the scenery of the African plains and woodlands. Their Latin name actually means 'Painted Wolf'. They'll hunt in packs mainly pursuing impalas, but occasionally even hunting Ostriches and Zebras.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Poison Dart Frog

Here's my animal of the day! The Poison Dart Frog. Woohoo! Found in Central and South America, these amphibians are often called "dart frogs" due to indigenous people using their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow darts.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) B. Rhino

This is to kick off my new effort to create an animal a day for the next year. They may be sketches, cartoony, realistic, stylized, whatever. I just want to do whatever I want drawing animals, which I love. So today is the Black Rhino. Word. There are Black Rhinos and White Rhinos, and while both are actually gray, the difference between the two is the shape of their upper lip. Black Rhinos have a pointed upper lip, while White Rhinos have a rounded one. Woohoo!

An Oldie, but Goodie

Here's something I did a while back that I liked...blah, blah, blah....

Mele Kalikimaka!

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say,
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day,
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway,
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright,
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night,
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say "Merry Christmas to you."

Ah I'm so excited and rambunctious waiting for Christmas to get here, I just had to send out my greeting to everyone. Since I'll be staying here in California this year and opposed to my winter wonderland home of Wisconsin I was inspired to do this. Plus I'm marrying into a Hawaiian family, so it only seems appropriate. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone!

Are You My Mother?

One of my favorite children's books when I was younger was Are you My Mother? which was part of the Dr. Seuss series. This is just my little twist on it of a little girl lost in a strange world
looking for her mum. Plus I figured it's not too often I draw monsters, so why not start!

...and found

Hmmmmm, this started off as something completely different. But I'm still satisfied with the result. I've discovered that at times with my art I have to let it tell me what I'm drawing. Yeah, pretty heavy huh? I guess in a way it represents me creating this image, in that I was lost for awhile and now...found.

Over and out!

Return to O.Z.

Back to da zoo, Oakland Zoo that is. It was CHILLY up there today, but always worth it to go. It's been a few weeks since I've been there because of my work and life schedule being a little hectice lately. But here I is!