Hye, Hye, Hyena

Some time ago we had some aboriginals from Africa come to the NCC.
Around that time I had doodles a Hyena, holding pencils in both hands and big monicals (5th down from the left hand side). The story behind that one was pbulished on my blog a few months ago:

A friend of mine and myself were bringing up bad animal stereotypes believed to be true way back in the day.
I WANTED to say that "Hyena's were thought to be Hermaphrodites"... but somewhere along the trail of thought, "Hermaphrodite" became "Androgynous" became "Ambidextrous".
And so I said: "People used to think Hyenas were ambidextrous!"
Pretty smart for fellas who don't even have any thumbs.

Well, when I related the story to the group of Nigerians (who were delighted and laughing at the thought of a Hyena with glasses and writing), they asked that I draw more Hyenas. Well, more like one had asked that I draw a Hyena in his likeness (this fellah laughed so much and at everything that his colleagues had called him "Hyena" as a nick name). At the time I was looking for a small design project to challenge myself, so I agreed.

Seen here were Hyenas based of the group of singers/dancers that came to visit, 3 plain caricatures for fun, and the ambidextrous Hyena.

Circus of Animals IX - XI

More animals for my design project.
The Bison and the Blue Footed Booby are for Tiffany mans- BFF!
The Giant Anteater was one I did for myself- because I love Giant Anteaters.

Circus of Animals VII - VIII

More animals! I have quite a few more to go! I think my grand total is 16.
Fox: for Mom
Shark: for SPUUUUUDDDDDD (Tara Burk) BFF!

Circus of Animals V - VI

The next two in my Animal Design project: The Cheetah and Snake.
The Cheetah wasn't requested by anyone in particular, simply I had drawn one in the process of making all the animals. The Snake is for my BFF- Adri- who was born in the Year of the Snake.

Circus of Animals I-IV

I finally had a day off in 2 months.. so I decided to indulge the day in a design project for fun. I let all my family and really close friends choose their favorite animals for me to draw. While I sketched out many more, these 4 were completed today:
Lion- for my twin sister
Tiger- for Eric Kuba Ash, a close friend and Tiger Conservationist
Wolf- for my Grandfather
Bear- for my mom

Underworld Valentines

I figured I'd take my favorite Romance Story/Movie and make valentines out of them for this year. I'm a little late- I was busy in Feb.
My favs are the first and last- primarily becuase I love Selene and Michael. You have to admit, Selene- best female role model ever. And the ONLY one I have after 28 years of not having anything to go by.
I want a bustier. And a werewolf boyfriend.

Shadow of a Trickster

Another image made for the Round Dance, hosted by the NCC on Feb 27, 2010.

When you look at something for what it is- you are only looking at a fraction of it. Reason, symbolism, and intent remain by the far the most important driving force behind why a person does what they do. Like a shadow that is cast behind them after they move- it's the remain of what was done.
Similar so is our spirit- that drives us to do what we do.

Here, Raven's spirit becomes obvious in the sunset's light- the trickster revealed in a world of cast shadows- where the actions have giving away to reveal the intent- the spirit of someone's actions.

If all that is left are those shadows- let us hope that we can leave behind the reminiscences of good actions, and not the bad- the way Raven left behind the light.
May we leave behind wet-lands and rain forests, good natured people and peace; not the catastrophes of war, and not the the sentiments of extremist ideals and fundamentals that have left the word in anger and hate.