Lepus domesticus

 
I don't know whether it was the context (I was listening to Bryan Christy talk about his adventures undercover in the illegal reptile smuggling trade--which became his book The Lizard King.), but I was drawing lots of angry/dangerous critters on Saturday morning. This, of course, is a wild boar, called a razorback by some people due to the long bristles along the spine. I find pigs pretty fascinating, although I haven't spent much time with them in real life to have a good sense of how to draw them. This guy's body shape is a bit like the bison, really. I think I got the head pretty well (except the tusks), although once again the ear is long and floppy. Good thing my next subjects had no external ears.  : )


Drawing random bird-creatures is relaxing for me. I think it's knowing that they have all those feathers which mask their true shape that makes them seem easier. Plus I can play with plumes and crests and things. I think this one looks a bit like a Terror Bird. I didn't really have anything in mind when I started, but there's something in the look in his eyes...Birds always look like they're thinking one of two things: "Can I eat that?" followed by, "If I can eat it, how do I kill it?" Like maybe in their minds they're really giant dinosaurs, and we mammals are still small and soft and defenseless.

And when all else fails, one can always go back to drawing sea monsters with long eyelashes. (Anyone else ever read the Serendipity Books as a kid?) I like the mane on the top one, but the tusk on the one catching the fish is better. I always think of sea monsters as being something like beaked whales--you know they're out there, but you know nothing at all about them and you never see one. I suppose these are mammals, and piscivores, with the tusks only being used for display. Actually, I think beaked whales mostly eat squids and have almost no teeth, except for the tusks males apparently use for fighting with each other (this is apparent because all the males have lots of scars from them).