Seasonal hybrid

Posted this already but it just suits the IF theme-of-the-week so well that… well here it again :)

The trheenoceros, or just "trheeno", is a tree/rhinoceros hybrid.

While nobody knows for sure exactly how they're born, it's entirely possible that they germinate from seed. Expert opinions vary…

wild wild veld

In the sun-baked  veld, many wild things lurk behind the long grass….

….mostly in search of a nice refreshing pool of water.

splishy splashing!

Let's dive into the new year!

New friends to be made, new adventures to be found and more fun to be had!

gwanadon

Like every boy (and many girls), I went through that ubiquitous dinosaur phase, you know the one ;)

Also popular with kids is the 'mad scientist' phase... the one where if you were to, say, combine a rhino and an iguana, you might get this:

It was at this point I realised that I'd basically drawn the (very) dated, Crystal Palace Iguanodon (1852), which sports the cool nose-spike; "...their thumb spikes were mistaken for horns, and they were depicted as elephant-like quadrupeds...".

Crazy!

spring's sprout

Well it's official, after a beautifully mild sunny day (and only 5 days late), spring has arrived!

So, to celebrate, here's a little sprout...

(and is that the shadow of winter looming in the back?)

Save our rhinos

You may have heard: these are dangerous times for our rhinos, with poaching at an all time high because of ridiculous "magical" properties attributed to their horns by certain unsavoury people (if they be people at all). 

Black rhinos in particular (illustrated here) are threatened because of their double horns, only a handful are left in the wild and it breaks my heart.

There are many charities and initiatives in place to help, I'll be posting more rhino pics as well as the details of these various organisations, please take the time now to visit WEESA and if you can: help!

"WESSA's vision is to achieve a South Africa which is wisely managed by all to ensure long-term environmental sustainability."

illustration friday

The subject this week is "afterward"…

Oh dear, can you guess what happened?

Mecha-Zoo: Bicornis

I thought I'd kick off this new month with, yes, another Mecha-zoo. The rhino is the second last Big 5 MZ that I first exhibited in 2005.

Nat Geo

So.

Wednseday drawing was cancelled again yesterday so no new updates. Instead, here're a few more illustrations-for-hire, I did these for the local NAT Geo Kids mag last year. The article talked about a ranger who'd set up a wildlife rehabilitation center called Moholoholo.

I've done a few more for them since but these are still my favourite, and what a pleasure drawing for kids who like animals :)

The Foolery

So as I was saying... Malone and I have started up The Foolery where we stew up comics and other vehicles of entertainment.

Here are a couple of sketches from our most recent endeavour: a children's book!

This is an exciting new style for me, I try to experiment as much as I can and sometimes it plops out and sometimes, like here, it doesn't.

Pages are trickling in, I hope to finish all the illustrations before this year's done. I better get cracking...