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May 8, 2009

B is for Blue Dragon

Filed under: A to Z monsters — tb @ 6:24 pm

dragon_blue.jpg

 

“Blue Dragons have a highly developed sense of order.  The oldest blue dragon in an area acts as an overlord to all lesser blue dragons living nearby.  This suzerain receives homage from it’s subjects and settles any disputes, particularly involving mates or territorial boundaries.”

 

I’ve always loved the Blue Dragons of D&D, and with Lockwood’s redesign of the RPG’s dragons several years back, I fell in love with them all over again.  I image this particular overlord like an old male lion, having a harem of females hunting for him, bringing him gifts of food and gold daily as he does little more than look out over his territory and grow larger with each passing century.  Yeah, I’m a nerd.

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May 7, 2009

Another update? You bet. Gorillas and Jaguars.

Filed under: Wildlife — tb @ 1:43 pm

zoo_mammals2.jpg

 

Today seems to be the day I pay for my past sins against my sketchblog and Update update update.  This page was done yesterday, while at the Wild Animal Park with Efrem, and today while at the zoo with my lovely wife, Becky.  The gorrillas at the Park are always great subject matter, as they seem to have no problem giving the artist great poses and gestural practice.  I arrived just in time for the morning feeding on this particular day.

   The jaguars at the zoo, on the other hand, always give me trouble whenever I try to give them a go.  Cats in general are tough subjects,  with thier super-flexible, graceful bodies.  Do you think figure quicksketch is tough?  Give cat drawing a try… Today was my day though, as this gal seemed to be pretty tired as was more than happy to just lounge about for me.

 

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Zoo drawing with E and the Schutter; Tapirs and Orangutans and Bearded Pigs

Filed under: Wildlife — tb @ 1:26 pm

zoo_mammals1.jpg

 

The other day I found myself at the zoo with two good friends and fellow artists, Efrem Palacios and Ryan Schutter.  Although the trip resulted in some terrible orangutan sketches (one pictured above) done from some super-squirrelly apes, I did manage to sneak in a chance to sketch one of my favorite mammals, the Bornean Bearded Pig.  Don’t ask me why I like boars and pigs so much..I really have no clue. If you want to ask me a question I do know the answer to, go ahead and inquire as to why I find the Malayan Tapir (also pictured above) so freaking terrifying.  It’s because these pre-historic throwbacks have a horrifying tendency to swim in their enclosure’s pool at night, slowly rising from the depths like some Frazetta-spawned swamp beast, baring thier horrible people-teeth and shrieking  like a velociraptor at you.   While an Internet search left me dry as to the terrible shrill noise they emit, I did manage to find a picture of a Brazilian tapir that gives you an idea of how creepy their grimace is.  It’s like their skulls are trying to escape through their mouths…Gahh.

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Seals in La Jolla

Filed under: Wildlife — tb @ 12:56 pm

seal.jpg

 

A week or two ago, my sister-in-law flew in for an impromtu visit. While I mananged to dodge trips to hollywood and shopping excursions, I did tag along for a visit to La Jolla’s children’s pool to get a peek at the seals.  I love watching these guys..There’s so much character and variation among each individual. This tubby fellow would take a gander up at me every now and again, only to plop his head back down when he realized just how exceedingly uninteresting I am.

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Birthday Reptiles; Caribbean Rock Iguana and Galapagos Tortoise

Filed under: Wildlife — tb @ 12:37 pm

zoo_herps1.jpg

 

Zoo sketching is one of my favorite pastimes, so it was only fitting I spent my birthday doing just that.  Being my birthday, I felt I was entitled to cheat a bit and I went ahead and decided I wasn’t going to deal with anything that moves.  With that said, I bring to you a Caribbean rock iguana and a Galapagos tortoise.  Don’t give me that look…It was my birthday, I’m entitled to be lazy with my subject matter.

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Of Tyrannosaurian combs and dewlaps

Filed under: Dinosaurs & Paleo-art — tb @ 12:24 pm

tyrannosaur.jpg

 

Here’s a forgotten sketch from my book, done during a roadtrip to visit my folks.  Another dinosaur, this time a Tyrannosaur; I decided to play around a bit with it, giving it a fleshy comb and a dewlap.  I image the males sport the dewlaps and nose-combs, which flush red with blood during the mating season to attract females.  Extinct creatures are always a joy to draw, as you can go a bit wild with ideas like a chicken’s comb on a T. Rex. This is one of the reasons I find paleo-art so fun… It’s life-drawing injected with fantasy-esque creativeness.  It’s a perfect blend of wildlife art and fantasy concepting.

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