Sunday, June 11, 2006

Illustration Friday - "Jungle"


I knew what to draw right away for this topic! I wanted to tell one of my favorite stories of my hubby's exploits as a island boy. He received a bow and arrow (the kind with plunger-tipped arrows) as a boy, but soon snuck off, removed the safety tips, and sharpened the arrows in the pencil sharpener! He then stalked around the jungle behind the house until he found his auntie's flock of chickens. Ready... Aim... and Auntie's radar went off and he was discovered!! Somehow the bow and arrows disappeared after that... Another element I wanted to include is the incredible diversity of the vegetation - taro, banana, mango, carambola, coconut. And there are no birds on the island except chickens - the tree snakes have killed them all off! Click on the picture to see it larger! Drawn with black micron pen, Prismacolor markers, colored pencils.

13 comments:

Amy Zaleski said...

What a great story! It's always great when an idea hits you right away like that ~ which isn't always the case for Illustration Friday! Sounds like it must have been a wonderful place to spend a childhood. I love his mischevious grin and the setting you've created is wonderful. Great details from the lizard on the tree to the beautiful flowers!

° said...

great story to go with a lovely illo

Jana Bouc said...

Delightful illustration and story. Sorry to hear about no birds on the island.

Ellen said...

Such a cute story to go along with an admirable piece!

arvindh said...

ha ha what a charming illo!

carla said...

It's really fun to see an illo that tells a real story! It sounds like your husband pribably had many other adventures in addition to this one:> I love the setting...there's so much detail...and i like how you've created a circular space with the hibiscus and leaves spilling over the border. This is really great!

carla said...

Hi there - you've only been drawing again for a few weeks? For how long did you stop? Your work is really fine! To answer your question, I am about 30 minutes from Glastonbury. I live in NW CT.

Paula Adams Perez said...

Thank you for all the nice comments - you guys are swell! And I want to especially thank Dr. E and Amoxicillan for curing my son's strep throat which afforded me LOTS of drawing time this weekend while I was holding his hand and not getting much else done!

Majeak Ann said...

This is the type of jungle I'm use to be(tropical!)a very nice detailed work! also fun!

-Marjorie

Julia Kelly said...

what a wonderful story and illustration! Nicely done!

Abbie said...

What a fabulous story to go with a great piece!! Love the bright colors and his expression!
:) abbie

Anastasia said...

This is wonderful - I love the detail and the story behind it - delightful illo!

Gabrielle said...

What a lovely illustration and story! Your husband must feel so special to be the subject of your work.