Did you know that the well-known English nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence a pocket full of rye, four-and-twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie” could have been a coded message used to recruit crew members for the notorious 18th-century pirate Blackbeard. His real name Teach was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed…
I liked the clever attitude of this dog and I had to find a quote which would match that particular facial expression. I hope you agree with my choice and Salvador Dali’s statement!
Drawing done with brush pen and watercolour on Moleskine sketchbook.
I chose to put this elephant behind the foreground decor to give a feel of space and depth. I painted the background with a graded wash for the light effect. I was inspired by the African theme when I chose the golden pattern reminiscent of African design.
This sketch was done mainly with watercolours and brush pen. I did not feel the need to put any comment or lettering as the elephant was naturally taking a lot of space already in this double spread.
Impressed by this magnificent creature, I painted it in my sketchbook adding some gold accent and framed the watercolour/brush pen sketch with some decorative tape. In the little lettering above the horn, I used the word learning curve for obvious reasons !
Hobby Sketcher 