Animals of October

In what has now become a trilogy of posts , I'm here again to write about the RSPCA Badly Drawn Pets fundraiser because last night it was my turn to get sketchy. The fundraiser has done really well, sailing past its 3K target, but that has meant there is a backlog of pets to be badly drawn and the pool of 'artists' has had to be extended. I am now within that pool, bathing in the inks and paints. Well, its more like colouring pencils and felt tips, but you get what I mean. My subject was a black rabbit called Inara (Hittite goddess of wild animals - cool name!) who stands proudly in her picture sticking her ridiculous cartoonish tongue out. I've not posted the full drawing here because I thought it better for the owner-donators to see it first, but this detail shows the aforementioned tongue. It was a fun exercise, taking me back to those heady days of GSCE art where I would gamely reproduce various Still Lives and be awarded Cs for attainment and Bs for effort. But I...

Now I know we covered guinea pigs yesterday, but this latest encounter was too good to pass over. Hannah has received her own entry to the Badly Drawn Pets fundraiser , which I mentioned in blogpost one a few days ago .* Hannah sent in a picture of a trio of our guinea pigs; Crystal, Debpig, and Homer, and has received back this delightful effort. Marvel at the Demon Debpig from Valhalla, and Homer’s weirdly distended cheek. One’s eyes are drawn to the hypnotising smiles of each subject, like a triptych of mammal Mona Lisas, and we might ask; what thoughts are passing through those fuzzy heads? Benevolence or malevolence? Amusement at the folly of art, or the hint of anticipation towards the eventual sating of lettuce-based hunger?  The artist is, at present, anonymous. All we know is that it was produced by a staff or volunteer at the Manchester & Salford RSPCA and that Hannah deliberately asked for, and I quote, ‘someone who can’t draw’. Such an assessment is unfair, I feel. ...