the two falcons - 100 drawings in 100 days

while i was surfing the net the other day, i found a site for birds of prey, namely, falcons. there is such a marvelous history behind falconry, and it spans many countries, but primarily the middle east.

but, from a creative point of view, the hoods that they use on these magnificent birds are just amazing!! so many and varied, and some quite ornate, some not.

these two guys had the most beautiful hoods that i saw, and in a way, they remind me of WWII bomber helmets, sans the top-notch. i have called this drawing, "circus falcons".

the fish and the girl - 100 drawings in 100 days

a friend of mine was just looking at this drawing, and made the comment, "it looks like 'a fish called wanda'!". now, it's been a long time since i saw that movie, but she really doesn't look anything like jamie lee curtis, or the fish. it's a fish-girl.

so, just go with me on this one - you take the face of an attractive woman and begin drawing it. after about 30 minutes of drawing, the idea comes to you that she should have a fishtail for her hair. no, better still, she IS a a fish, and not just any fish, but a koi fish. and the fish has, not a fish head, but a woman's head. right.

and that's exactly how it goes...

this drawing is called "koi girl".

the kangaroo and a bowtie - 100 drawings in 100 days

it's been exactly one year since i arrived in australia on the 5th october, 2007! and what a year!

to celebrate, i thought i'd throw in a drawing of something very australian, but with the de Shan twist - a circus/birthday party kangaroo wearing a gigantic bowtie!

i noticed that this particular kangaroo had one ear forward and one back, and i was trying to make the ears look like horns with stripes - however, he didn't look much like a kangaroo then, so i left the one ear forward as it was in the photograph. i have noticed that kangaroos and llama, and sometimes dogs, all have the same type of face when you cover the ears, or alter the ears. this is why i left one ear looking very kangaroo-like.

so happy anniversary to me, and this guy is called "the kangaroo and the bowtie".

the turtleneck sweater - 100 drawings in 100 days

ok, we all know how uncomfortable an itchy turtleneck sweater is... and this one looks particularly so.

i saw this really alert-looking pup the other day during lunch at a local cafe, and just had to snap him up! i never really know what i'm going to do with the subjects until i see the photo enlarged. only then, and sometimes not until i start drawing, do i know what kind of costume or background will accompany them.

so, here we have a dog in a very long-necked sweater, and i have called it "the long turtleneck".

bat in a poncho - 100 drawings in 100 days

there are thousands of flying fox (bats) near where my mom lives on the sunshine coast in queensland. every time we drive down the motorway, i see them. on the east side of the road there is one spot amongst the palm trees where all these critters sleep.

occasionally, it appears that the trees are bearing a bumper crop of black pears!! i know people have mixed feelings about these cute little guys - some people hate them, yet they are a protected species, so somebody loves them!

this little guy is seen wearing the striped poncho that zorro the canary wore last week, and therefore this drawing is called, "the striped poncho makes its rounds".

harlequin girl - 100 drawings in 100 days

in a way, this girl reminds me a little bit of a nun... i guess it's the way the hat frames her face, which is very similar to a habit.

ok, so this drawing is called, "harlequin girl". and now i'm going to keep drawing!

the tango dancer and the stork - 100 drawings in 100 days

ok, i'm all caught up!!! yay! i have this amazing sense of lightness now...

it is officially DAY 81 today! only 19 days left!! i cannot believe how fast this has gone, and how, for the most part, it has been relatively pain-free. the rewards of having an increased sense of artist-self and a better feel for drawing than when i started (i was very, very rusty!) are immense!

so, i have drawn here a stork over the circus tent canopy - and in true spirit to the common thread in a lot of my works, i have thrown in the 'strings attached' from my series "girl on a string" in 2000. i would link this series, however i cannot, as i did have to be prudent and edit my website down a lot to keep it under control!! they were a series of paper dolls and puppets, of which i am also rather fond... so, this one is titled "circus stork".

while i was researching images for my drawings, i came across this lovely woman dancing the tango, and everything about her was elegant and poised and ripe for drawing! not to mention the difficult angle of her face and jaw, so it was quite a challenge! i have always found the tango to be the sexiest dance on earth, and i have added it to my list of 100 things i must do before i die - i must learn to tango. this one is called " the tango dancer".

half-cocked and a silo - 100 drawings in 100 days

i've never really been good at drawing hands, unless they are from a photograph, where the hand is perfectly still and i can zoom in to see it more closely.


hands are one of those things that i never really pay attention to, mainly because i never used to have pretty hands (i do now - nice nails, etc.) and therefore i used to dismiss them all the time. but i saw this hand, and it was perfectly clear and large enough to see all the details. and of course, it had to belong to a rooster, right? even though it's holding a revolver, i thought it should belong to a fowl. this drawing is called "rooster roulette".


and as for the silo, i've just always loved silos. they are usually so lonely out in the middle of wherever, and yet each one is distinctively attractive in its own way. this one looks like an italian cathedral in a way, with its domed roof, so i've called it "cathedral silo".

zorro and the pimp - 100 drawings in 100 days

ok, i think i might officially be over my artist's block. after i wrote my last post, i became very inspired - funny how that works!

while i was toying with the idea of the canary, i was trying hard to think of what i could add to him to make him more interesting: a hat, a stripe, a suit? then it hit me, that he needed to be in black and white stripes, like a convict. but, that evolved into a poncho, with the black mask and the zorro-esque hat... and bingo!

then i had to draw an otter - my favorite animal, besides my cat atticus finch. i've always loved the playfulness of otters, although this one looks more like a bouncer at the circus than a fun-loving water-splasher! these two are called "zorro the canary" and "buster".

the white rabbit and the buddha - 100 drawings in 100 days

could it be possible for a crazy girl like me to run out of ideas?? or am i just in an artist's block? i've been there before, and the good news is that it doesn't last forever. and it's usually better on the other side than it was on this side. or, could it be that i'm starting to stress a little about getting the show prepared, ready to pick up the mats, get the titles and numbers organized, chase up the venue manager, the mailing lists, etc... whew! no wonder...

but that's all part of a show! and i should be used to it by now, but i don't know that you ever really do, because each show is so different from all the others. oh well, here goes!

so, here we have a character from my all-time-favorite "alice in wonderland" - the white rabbit (always looking very stressed out and worried!), along with the ever-relaxed and unperturbed buddha, who happens to be at the circus here. both of them are. and why not? it's my favorite place at the moment...

the top image is called, "hiding from the queen", and the other is "buddha goes to the circus".