Alright folks – I just got this drawing in my inbox from Iris, and it was so perfect for last month’s Under the Sea theme that I felt I just had to post it.
Have you ever wondered how to draw a dolphin? I have. In fact, I was going to draw a dolphin earlier in the month and I just couldn’t figure it out. If only Iris had sent this sooner! Here is her step-by-step guide on how to draw a dolphin:
Iris did want me to share that her teacher Ms. Stuckey helped her out with the instructions. And I must say, I think the instructions really help! What a great dolphin it is!!
Thanks, Iris! I’m going to add this to my resource library for how to draw things. You and Ed Emberley and Lee J. Amesare mymasters of instruction. And stay tuned for the announcement of June’s Theme of the Month!
As we prepare to bid farewell to May’s Under the Sea theme (oh, how we shall miss thee!), I am delighted to share one final kid-submitted drawing, this one from Everett B.
This is what Everett had to say about his drawing:
“The Ornithocheirus [like a pterodactyl, beak protruding down from top of image] is trying to get the other fish. The yellow one is just a fish. The red one is a seahorse. The blue rock has sea cucumbers on it. And then there is an anemone with lots of colors.”
I appreciate Everett’s description. But not as much as I appreciate that lovely yellow fish. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to successfully draw a fish from that angle, pointing directly toward you, with its tail off to one side? Well, let me tell you, it is extremely hard. Even Robbi agrees, and she has an advanced degree in illustration.
Also, I love the composition here, and by “composition,” I mean the ways in which the various creatures are arranged. I love that we only see the beak of the menacing Ornithocherius, because the beak is the only part of the Orithocherius that matters to the yellow fish, who is clearly not happy about that beak entering his otherwise cozy space. I also love how the seahorse, anemone, and rock of sea cucumbers sort of clusters around the yellow fish, helping us get a sense of his environment.
But let there no doubt about it: this drawing is about the yellow fish and whether or not he is the next to be eaten.
Do you think he will be? We have no idea. And that is what makes the drawing so interesting.
Well done, Everett! More please! Perhaps you will send us another drawing? I have it on good authority that next month’s theme will be posted soon!
Those of you who frequent this blog will be, by now, well familiar with the work of Simon B., he whose imaginative emulation of the machines from Bobbledy title Benji McBean’s Amazing Machines is unending and ever-awesome.
Check out his latest contrivance (picking up on the current Under the Sea theme), The Thresher-Thudding, Hammerhead-Hitting, Silvertip-Splitting System.
While we appreciate Simon’s efforts to rid the seas of one of its chief predators, we feel it important to spend a few minutes in defense of the shark, and, in particular, to dispelling certain myths about the problems they cause.
For example:
In 1996, toilets injured 43,000 Americans a year. Sharks injured 13.
Further:
In 1996, buckets and pails injured almost 11,000 Americans. Sharks injured 13.
If you are not yet convinced:
In 1996, 2600 Americans were injured by room fresheners. Sharks injured 13.
Pretty compelling stuff, if you ask me. Although, we have no idea what has happened in the shark vs. toilet matchup since 1996. Perhaps there was a general shark pacifism movement afoot that year. Or maybe the factories were in the midst of producing truly lethal air fresheners. We may never know.
The theme of the month is Under the Sea. Given that 73 percent of the planet’s surface is covered by water, this is a VERY BIG THEME. Robbi could spend her whole life researching and writing posts about life beneath the waves and barely scratch (or is it splash) the surface. So, naturally, our hope is that kids will be inspired to jump into the fray and help us out a bit.
Thankfully, assistance came from beneath our very own roof the other day when Kato, with no prompting (usually Kato has to be prompted two or seven times to do ANYTHING) created this drawing of two undersea creatures, the first of which is a clam and the second of which is a rocketfish.
If you are not familiar, clams are shellfish. They are soft and delicious and everyone wants to eat them and so they hide inside of a shell that they close tight and refuse to open up, even when you knock really politely. Clams are smart like that.
As for rocket fish, I looked in the dictionary and could not find one. Kato swears they are 100% real. As the name suggests, they are regular fish with rocket engines where their tails should be. As hard as it is to eat a clam, I bet it’s even harder to eat a rocket fish, because first you’d have to catch one.
Joining Kato in the quest to document underwater life is Anna E., who sent along her excellent whale shark. Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen a better drawing of a whale shark. Now, admittedly, I can’t see any of you from my desk, but I’m pretty confident that you are all sitting there serenely with your hands folded in your lap because THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A FINER DRAWING OF A WHALE SHARK EVER!
I have it on good authority that Anna listened to Bobbledy album Absurd is the Bird while making this drawing, which probably helps explain its excellence just a little.
Thank you Kato and thank you Anna for sharing your various sea things with us. Surely some other kids out there have drawings or stories of the sea to send our way. Maybe a seahorse? Or a barnacle? Or a stingray? Or a clownfish? The options are as varied as the oceans are wide.
This month’s theme is inspired by a video I saw about a project that was happening off the coast of Puerto Rico. Scientists sent down an undersea vehicle with a video camera on it, and scientists all over the world got to see what the vehicle was seeing as it travelled. Amazing and new-to-us sea creatures abounded:
How cool is it that there is a whole world on this planet that is yet to be discovered?
This month we’ll be posting about things under the sea – whether they’re imaginary (someone has already asked me to draw a mermaid) – or real, or that seem like they OUGHT to be imaginary. Email us your stories and pictures or post them on FB for us to share! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
(From what I can tell from the video, this seems to be part of the NOAA Okeanos Explorer Project – more cool video can be found HERE).
