Tag: animals

animals, flora and fauna, Illustrations, Odd Little Stories, thoughts behind the work

I love the Forest with deer

Michele B. Naquaiya

deer-LUV-forest-web

I’ve seen lots of deer in the forest because I lived in the northwest for a long time.  How can you describe them except to say they are very sweet and can win you over.  Although I remember many mornings shaking a string of empty soda cans at them to make as much noise as I could to chase them away from my flowers and plants.  They always won and grabbed some nibbles before they fled.

Or when driving down a main street, a mom with her twins would come out of the woods suddenly and very slowly cross the street.  They understood traffic and I swear they knew stop signs. The only really dangerous  part is when they would try to cross a main highway from the woods to get to the cool riverbank.  All  you could do is slow down and pray they make it.

check out my online store to see this little guy on various products

animals, fantasy illustration, flora and fauna, Illustrations, Pen and Ink Drawing

Chickens exotica

Michele B. Naquaiya

chickens-tile-web

Chickens are all about color and attitude.  After all, who has more feathers?  Maybe a peacock.  Peacocks are fancy and exotic. Chickens are commonly seen everywhere, in every place on the globe.  That does not mean they are common animals.

To me, anybody that only has two legs and can’t fly high or far, and who needs their wits about them to survive deserves some kudos for living so long.  I designed this artwork as a ceramic tile, hoping someday I could see it on a tile.  This may never happen but I think none-the-less it should be in somebody’s kitchen.  Make sure you check out the little hard boiled eggs in the borders.

Right now, this image is available on lots of neat stuff here.  Check it out por favor.

animals, dogs, horses, cats, fantasy illustration, Illustrations, simple photoshop, thoughts behind the work

Dude…2 cats in a love conversation

Michele B. Naquaiya

Dude-web

A Big cat and little cat are having a love conversation. The big cat has camouflage artwork on his body and the little cat is making big body language. Who is talking to who? Who loves who?   It could go either way, so have fun with this.
Since I seem to be in my retro mood for the past few weeks, this was a small sketch in one of my many sketchbooks.  I always refer to my sketchbooks, whether the sketches are good or not.  The important thing is that you get the information down. Usually, the first sketch is the best one because that carries the message across in the strongest and most immediate way.  You can always tweet the drawing a little bit and get it to fit into what you want now.  This drawing was a little different because I kept it very raw and did not polish it up at all.

I scanned it and made sure I put it on a large white background leaving a lot of space to make room for a big text area.  I just made a mask and gave it a transparent background and then painted the cats some and with the direct selection tool, filled areas with different shades of black, greys and whites. I know there are artifacts all over the place but I am moving ahead and will repair the image later.  I hope this does not bother people too much.

this is how it looks on products: Dude-web

animals, flora and fauna, Illustrations

L is for Lamb

Michele B. Naquaiya

L-is-for-lamb-kid size-th

Lambs are animals I have always loved.  My mother grew up on a farm and she said they were the sweetest of all the baby animals.  I enjoy seeing them in fields or how nice is it to look out your window and be able to see sheep and lambs grazing.

I painted this little watercolor very simply.  It is part of a growing interest in my “alphabet series”.  I don’t know what this series will become, but I love letters and script and any excuse to play is great.

I am offering this as a photo print.  Click here to purchase or see other options.

animals, fantasy illustration, Illustrations, Odd Little Stories, thoughts behind the work

Cat clouds good night

Michele B. Naquaiya

cat-clouds-heart-th

Have you ever lost something and found it a long time later? Well, here’s one cat I remember drawing way back in 2004.  I found this little guy in a zip file that somehow got saved from disaster.  So I know he’s not very well drawn but this art came at a time in my life when I almost died.  I was recovering from major surgery and was trying to remember who I was as I had lost a lot of my memory.

I remember sitting in a little travel trailer and painting these little cats by the hundreds. I painted some on wood and some on paper. Most were just simple watercolors no bigger than 6 square inches.  I did some on scratchboard too.   Some survived.  They helped me clear my head, get my bearings and be optimistic for the future.  I love cats and this therapy did work.

Eventually a lot of my memory came back but I still don’t know what day or month it is most of the time.  My friends are very patient with me.

Here is the little guy on some products.