Sunday, March 4, 2012

Illustration Friday: Intention

Click on the image for a bigger version.
My submission for this week's Illustration Friday is autobiographical.

Lately I've been trying to work on my masters research.  I'm looking at a little critter called the "velvet worm";  a really interesting relic from the Cambrian geological period (~450 million years old).  I'm planning on doing a habitat selection study on the little worm so I have about six statistics and wildlife textbooks on my desk right now, and I've been buried in scientific journals.  Aside from my good intentions, I still find myself getting distracted from my research.  Case in point.

PS.  Check out this video of the velvet worm hunting.  Very cool! - (Disclaimer: This video contains a high degree of creepy and crawly.







Update: I finally found one!  I've been really concerned lately that there won't be any peripatus in my study area, but I visited the location today and found two of them within about an hour and a half.  Not bad odds!

And here it is.  You can see that glisten on the right where it tried to spit at me.





12 comments:

  1. Oh wow. Thanks for sharing that video (I think). For a cuddly looking creature (and eminently drawable), it's a menacing hunter.

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    1. No problem. Glad you enjoyed the video! They are fascinating little invertebrates. Simultaneously cute and grotesque. Sort of like pugs.

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  2. Love the illustration, the video not so much. :)

    And I feel much the same way, buried in research but getting distracted by other things. Oh dear.

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  3. What coincidence! Both our illustrations involve reading them books. The X-men page and the lil worm details are hilarious! good stuff!

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    1. Thank you very much! I actually had quite a lot of fun with this, considering it was only a still life.

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  4. That's a great stack of books. Lovely drawing style, love the comic and the worm. As for the video well, it's all fun and games until something creepy squirts twin jets of glue on you! Aaaaah! I did wonder why it seemed like some of the legs didn't work, but maybe if they don't touch anything they don't need to move? Also, worms can come with legs? Hmm!

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    1. haha. I'll put up a disclaimer for future video viewers.

      haha. Well the legs don't really have bones or anything. They are basically just water balloons that they move by changing the pressure in their bodies. I guess if they don't have to move the legs they don't bother. It's a lot of legs to manage.

      Also, they aren't really worms. It's just easier to say "worm" than "onychophoran".

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  5. Love your piece, also love the work on the rest of your site. That Timothy Dalton Piece is super bananas awesome. You have an incredible amount of skill as an illustrator.

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    1. Thanks so much man! I'm glad you enjoy the blog.

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  6. Hi Dan, there are peripatus at the Truby King Reserve at Seacliff. Some years ago Council staff suggested we keep that quiet but I'm sure they are ok you knowing about it. The peripatus has got a lot more attention in recent years. One of our community found one a couple of months ago at a working bee at the reserve.
    Cheers, Paul

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    1. Hi Paul,
      Thanks for letting me know about the peripatus sighting! That's great that people are so protective of the wildlife they have there.

      Do you mind if I send you an email to get some more specifics about where the peripatus were spotted?
      Cheers,
      Dan

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