It is no secret

…the bears are up and they are hungry.

In the Banff National Park the Bears wake sometime in April and they are very very hungry. 

published pen and ink cartoon by Sandra Santa Lucia, April 14, 1993 for the Banff Crag and Canyon newspaper

Back in 1993 I illustrated the cartoon above for The Banff Crag and Canyon newspaper. Having a little fun depicting a bear munching away on a popular warden's lunch this cartoon warned readers of the dangers of  Feeding the Bears.

Illustration Friday's word of the week for June 15 to 21 is "secret"

If only Uggy, a capable performer, had been a nominee for an Oscar…

he could have danced with Little Lizzie one cute little dog!
Unfortunately Uggy, the wonderful furry four-legged performer from The Artist was not a nominee to the 2012 Oscars. Had he, he would  have swung and twirled little Lizzie Barker delighting a world-wide audience.

Pencil drawing of Uggy, The Artist's four-legged lovable dog swings with little Lizzie Barker at the Oscars! by Sandra Santa Lucia/2/26/12

For more information about animals not receiving an Oscar check out  The Calgary Herald  
Illustration Friday's February 25 - March 1 word of the week is capable suggested by Fiona Meakin of Love Love Drawing. 

fluid…water and more water!

"Who will foot the bill!!"  … all about a broken water main in Banff.

Pen and Ink cartoon illustration by Sandra Santa Lucia/ 7/7/92 for the Banff Crag & Canyon newspaper.

Fluid is the topic for Illustration Friday's word of the week for February 17 - 23 as suggested by  http://lorimulligan.com/home.html

fashion designers…preparing for the Oscars

What would the starlets do without the top designers on Oscar night?…and what would the designers do without historical fashion?  Designers are often influenced by articals of clothing, style, accessory or fabric from the past. For example; although I am not a fashion designer I did have fun designing and illustrating the Tux-Shrug below.  I rather liked the high-waisted bodice which came forth during the Renaissance period. One never knows what inspires one does one.

Pen and ink fashion design and illustration of front and back views of a Tux-Shrug by Sandra SantaLucia, Banff, AB/17/01/2012

You might like to read Ulinka Rublack's artical  "Renaissance Fashion: The Birth of Power Dressing," at Cambridge University. Ulinka Rublack makes a good argument that the concept as we know it got started way back in the 1300s. By the end of the era, "clothes already formed an important part of what we might call people’s ‘psychic landscapes.’ Wardrobes could become repositories of fantasies and insecurities, as well as reflecting expectations of what a person might look like and behave." Particularly interesting is her research on one Matthaus Schwarz, an Augsburg accountant who had watercolor paintings of himself in various outfits bound into a book—making him possibly the world's first fashion blogger.

This week's topic for Illustration Friday week of Jan. 14 - 20, 2012

This week's topic is "Prepare" suggested by Susan Sorrell Hill (http://susansorrellhill.wordpress.com/).

An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language. ~ Henri Matisse

scary dungeon

scary - dungeon illustration by sandra santa lucia/1961

This week's IF topic is "Scary" suggested by Zach (http://apexart.blogspot.com/).

"All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary." ~ Sally Ride

useless contraption?

pen and ink suitcase of energy saving ideas cartoon by sandra santa lucia for the Banff Crag & Canyon newspaper/12/09

Illustration Friday's October 7 - October 13's topic is "contraption". 

From the pages of The Banff Crag & Canyon's newspaper back in December of '09 my cartoon of "buck the elk's" contraption pokes a little fun at some of the cost efficient and environmentally sound suggestions put forward for The Town Banff and Parks Canada's Utility needs. 

contraption  (kn-trpshn) n. A mechanical device; a gadget.

Topic suggested by karen krings 

wake up…don't hibernate

Elections…so many coming up around the world.

pen and ink cartoon by sandra santa lucia, banff

Back in September 0f 2001 I created a cartoon for the Banff Crag & Canyon's newspaper reminding voters to get out and vote. This cartoon above seemed the perfect illustration for this week's, Sept. 30 to Oct. 6th' Illustration Friday's topic for the week "Hibernate".
“You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book (Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death." ~ Anais Nin Topic suggested by: suggested by Caitriona (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitrionasweeney/).