What if Animals Got Tattoos?

This watercolor and charcoal piece was inspired in part by the alebrije I posted about on May 24th. I doubt I would have attempted this much detail on the surface of animals prior to living with Jorge Vasquez’s gorgeous work in my studio. The approach here is quite different from the powerful geometric and symbolic methods used in Jorge Vasquez’s pieces, but I did follow the lines and movement of the animals in ways that I learned somewhat from him. And actually, this piece has more in common with various types of painting on porcelain figures than with the work of the artists in Oaxaca.

I’ve also recently been fascinated with large sunflowers. And in the course of this piece I recalled motifs that I used to use on homemade cards - like the irises on the toad, and the bleeding heart and poppies on the crab. The maple seeds were right outside my studio window in red and green. I’m particularly happy with the snail’s shell.

Painting around all the little quills on the hedge pig led to the next piece, which I also recently finished. Next post…

18 x 24 inches, watercolor and charcoal pencil and a few ink accents on Arches hot press paper.