do nothing…relax

pen and ink illustration by sandra santa lucia/82

One remedy for relieving tension is to relax and "do nothing" . 
     This week's , July 1 - July 7th Illustration Friday's topic is "Remedy" suggested by Elizabeth McMahill http://elizabethmcmahill.blogspot.com/ .To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy" ~ Hippocrates

howling…on a midsummer night

wolf pen,ink,wash illustration by sandra santa lucia/6/30/11

Wolves howl to assemble the pack (usually before and after hunts), to pass on an alarm (particularly at a den site), to locate each other during a storm or unfamiliar territory and to communicate across great distances. Could these wolves be howling at the antics of a midsummer night?

This week's illustration friday's topic is "Midsummer Night" suggested by Emily Dimov-Gottshall (http://www.gottshall.com/gallery/emily.htm). "Why this is very midsummer madness" - William Shakespeare

swept off their feet

Cougar cubs are born spotted and gradually change into the sandy brown adult form. They live in dens with their siblings for about two months and remain close to their mothers for about a year. One notable difference between a cougar and other big cats is that the cougar can hiss, scream, and growl but it cannot roar.

cougar, cubs and chipmunk pen and ink illustration by sandra santa lucia/6/11

cougar pencil sketch by sandra santa lucia
This week's topic is "Swept" suggested by ssnchan (http://www.ohmytangerine.com/home.html)."You can't sweep other people off their feet, if you can't be swept off your own." ~ Clarence Day elephant sweepint     http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucytakakura/5071222716/in/photostream/

casting a shadow

pen and ink illustration of a lynx by sandra santa lucia/5/9/11

Casting a shadow on the tree branch the Lynx spotted a hare below.
Lynx live in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks, but not just anywhere in those parks. They establish home ranges in high evergreen forests occupied by snowshoe hare. Further north, in the boreal forest, hare populations rise and fall dramatically every 10 years, shadowed closely by lynx populations.

Lynx pencil sketch by Sandra Santa Lucia/4/84

This week's topic is "Shadows" suggested by michael (http://teako.blogspot.com/).

"I look out the window sometimes to seek the color of the shadows and the different greens in the trees, but when I get ready to paint I just close my eyes and imagine a scene." ~ Grandma Moses

safari fashion

Ink rendering of the above colonial safari fashion and lioness by sandra santa lucia /19/5/11

 The word 'safari' is derived from the arabic 'safara' and means 'to make a journey'.  Along with crew and models  film companies and fashion photographers alike make that very safari to Africa.  
Africa, entices fashion designers, photographers and film companies from around the world to its tremendous wealth of  amazing scenery and wild animals such as the lionesses below. The lioness is a female member of the species Panthera leo. Lionesses are the core members of, and primary hunters for each pride or primary social group of lions. 
One film in particular comes to mind that exemplifies the beauty and costumes of Africa…that movie being — 'Out of Africa'. The colonial safari fashion; worn by Merle Streep was designed by Milena Canonero who was nominated for an Academy Award for her designs. Why she wasn't chosen is beyond me…her designs were magnificent. 
This week's, May 13  - 19, Illustration Friday's topic is "safari" suggested by Jill .

painting eggs…a fun-filled easter journey!

"bunnies little" ink sketch by sandra santa lucia, 24/4/2011

Bunnies Little were having so much painting the Easter eggs that they completely lost track of time! …Big Bunny needed these eggs now for the annual Easter Egg Hunt .

"big bunny" pen and ink illustration by sandra santa lucia/ 4/2010

Big Bunny, although understanding the creative journey which the bunnies little were on realized that he needed to hurry them along! Once the need of urgency was established, the decorated eggs were gathered up and dropped into Big Bunnies huge magic basket. Off he ran— ever so fast. His Easter Egg deadline completed for another year! Illustration Friday's April 15 - 21 topic was journey which was suggested by botanick. "Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

 HAPPY EASTER everyone!

"Swarm"

The Wardens temporarily closed part of an Interpretive Trail
where a swarm of aggressive wasps had earlier stung several people.
Pen and ink newspaper cartoon published in the The Banff Crag & Canyon by Sandra Santa Lucia

Illustration Friday's  topic this week is swarm. Above the cartoon depicting a swarm of aggressive wasps was previously illustrated for The Banff Crag & Canyon newspaper back in 1997. 

under a layer of earth

pen and ink cartoon by Sandra Santa lucia/2/11

Illustration Friday's topic for the week of February 18 - 24 is layer. In the spring, ground squirrels (gophers) come out of their dens around Feb./March.

Near the end of June, adult males go back into hibernation. Adult females do the same in July. But the young are active all summer. In August to late fall when there is less food to be found they go into hibernation. Shelter - They dig a burrow with many tunnels, openings, and different room (called chambers). If a predator (enemy) comes in one hole, they can escape out another hole. Food - The Richardson's Ground Squirrels store some food during hibernation, they wake up every 10 to 14 days and have a snack.

…making the dust fly

Pen and ink book publication by Sandra Santa Lucia

My Illustration Friday's "dust" entry for January 28, 2011 was a illustration from Wagging Tails a book which I illustrated.

Laurie was frightened for Zeke, who was tiring, she stopped Thunder, her horse, hauled Zeke onto her saddle and rode like the wind…making the dust fly!

"surrender"

Once and awhile we would catch sight of a large rabbit. Boysie, too, would spot the rabbit and bound after it, leaving Nana and I in a cloud of dust.

Illustration Friday's

This weeks subject is "surrender" for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3/11. I decided to go with my drawing of Boysie, chasing a rabbit, who, being a little faster than his pursuer, was not ready to surrender just yet. This illustration was for a book about a Banff family and their four-legged friends

reverse

This week's Illustration Friday topic is reverse. 

"Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other." 

– Arthur Schopenhauer

  

All of a sudden Doreen let out a scream, "There's a bear on the path!"

pen and ink book illustration by Sandra Santa Lucia

Who wants to be inside…a bear that is!  

The subject chosen for this weeks Illustration Friday , depicts one of the illustrations which I drew for Wagging Tails a  book about a Banff family and their four-legged friends. In this particular illustration depicting three friends who had been enjoying their hike to Johnson Lake when one of them spotted a bear!  They're leisurely hike soon became a very fast reverse speed hike away from the lake!

Mr. Humpback Whale cartoon

Pen and Ink drawing of Mr. Humpback Whale of the South Seas by Sandra Santa Lucia

            

A while back I was presented with a rather fun project…a cartoon character of a Humpback Whale, I choose to portray Mr. Humpback in a tiny little tour boat welcoming enthusiastic tourists who had a birds eye view from Mr. Humpback's wine glass. What fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the process of simplifying and creating a mammal in such a cute and exaggerated humanistic cartoon style… Mr. Humpback was born. Along with the actual drawing I did some research on the Humpback Whale gaining a little knowledge about this magnificent mammal. From July to November the Humpback Whales spend six months in the tropical waters of Vava'u, a tropical Island group in the Kingdom of Tonga, located in the South Pacific. It is one of the most scenic and unspoiled of the Pacific Island nations.