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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Illustration Friday: Primitive

Back home at my parents home there used to be a ton of cute, furry, little chipmunks scampering about the yard. But, slowly they started to disappear as some neighborhood cats took over the territory. Soon, no more chipmunks were to be found, but occasionally we would find a tail here and there. I began to imagine that the savage wild cats would perform some sort of ancient tail-removal ritual to gather these prize souvenirs. Somewhere in a secret lair I imagine them decked out in full ceremonial garb with the tails made into headdresses and necklaces. In the drawing I had to strategically place the tree stump because these guys are so savage that they don't wear any pants.

This is a sketch color blocked in photoshop. The other week I was busy painting some of my decorative wooden boxes to give my little place a little spring makeover, and I was sanding a painted surface, and ended up scanning that, and I used it here as the background texture.

My apologies to chipmunk lovers. No chipmunks were directly harmed in the creation of this illustration. The same can't be said for what happens in the wild.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice! I love the scanned texture and I love even more that I know how you created the image! Thank you for sharing that! Great idea on the sanding scan! Now, If I could only figure out how to do that.. hehe.

thedoodlegirl said...

Very inventive technique! Thanks for sharing. I really like this story and your great imagination to go with the piece.

Bee said...

Brilliant! Loved your illustration as soon as I saw it (cute characters with a sadistic side are always a winner) and your explanation is a great read too.

Diane Duda said...

I love my cats, but do hate finding little "critter parts" on my back porch.

Love your interpretation though. :)

RyanLoghry said...

This is totally awesome. Really made me laugh. Terrific illustration.

Anonymous said...

Hee heeee, they don't wear pants, how rude! I love this drawing and your story is just delightful! (although my heart goes out to the chipmunks.)

What a clever idea to scan that texture and use it. Very cool. You are always giving me great ideas! Thanks.

tiffini elektra x said...

This is about the sweetest thing I have ever seen! Fantastic - I love shape of their heads so perfectly illustrated. The colors and the scratching - the necklaces. It just rocks!

Food and Drugs said...

Nooo, please

Eric M. Smith said...

Is this your first horror illustration? You're heading over to the dark side! I like your innovative use of found textures.

I can haz ritual sacrifice?

Emily said...

hihi...love it!
(evil giggle)
love the trophy tails they have collected for jewlery!