3 Unicorns and a Narwhal

Cute Little Unicorn

These drawings were done on our Western Caribbean cruise.  Of course we did not see any unicorns in Belize, Mexico, or Honduras.  I suppose that those forests and or jungles would be a good place for a unicorn to hide.  Remember that the Greeks thought of Unicorns as not a mythological creature, but as an animal who was part of nature.  Possibly it was travelers who saw a rhino in Asia or Africa who perpetuated the idea.  It just hit me!  We never see unicorns anywhere!  Maybe people hunted them to extinction... IF they ever were actually real.  OR maybe unicorns are not extinct, they just are in hiding.  When I consider the sad situation where some people kill rhinos because misguided people think that rhino horns have medicinal value...if I were a real unicorn, I'd hide from people too!

Unicorn Mare at Sunrise

Notice the eyelashes are longer on a female.  That is a cartooning trick.  

Unicorn Stallion by a Palm Tree

Here the eyelashes are shorter so it is a male unicorn.  This male unicorn is also drawn more hefty.None of these drawings are traditional unicorns. They are done how I like to draw them.  I put long flowing horse tails on them and give them horse hooves etc.  Traditional unicorns have a tuft on a lion-like tail and have cloven hooves.  Over the centuries the Narwhal horn has been sold to gullible buyers who were deceived into thinking they were buying a unicorn horn.   

Narwhal under the Arctic Ice

Narwhals live far away from the Caribbean.  We did not see any narwhals on our cruise either.  We possibly could have seen them on our cruse 5 years ago to Alaska...but we were probably still too far south.  Narwhals live up north in northern Alaska, Norway, Canada and Greenland.  Narwhals measure 13 to 18 feet, 4 to 5.5 meters.  The big males can weigh up to 3,500 lbs, 1,600 kg.  That long "unicorn" horn is actually an elongated left canine.  Also, the "horn" is really called a tusk.  The scientific name is very descriptive,  I always like scientific names that describe the organism.  For a narwhal it is Genus: Monodon, species: monoceros.   Or just:  Monodon monoceros. It means:  One tooth, one horn.  To be clear...Monodon = one tooth.... monoceros = one horn.  So since the horn is actually an elongated tooth the scientific name is a description that is exactly right.  By the way, never capitalize the species name.  You DO capitalize the Genus name.