Tyrannosaurus rex Mother in the Spring

Tyrannosaurus rex Mother in the Spring

So, I really should be asleep, but I had an unfinished mother T. rex drawing.   So I finished it and I am posting it for you.  After all, it IS spring!   In the current climate often young animals are born or hatched in the spring.  Baby birds usually hatch in the spring in temperate climates.  So, I drew a mother Tyrannosaurus rex carrying her chick.  Near the end of the Cretaceous Period there was a huge upsurge of volcanic activity.  So perhaps only one of the T. rex mother's eggs survived to hatch.  Here the mother is carrying her chick in her mouth.  This is a good inference since crocodiles and alligators carry their young in their mouth.  IF you wonder about the lack of spots on the chick...well, some baby animals are born with their markings and some are born plain or monotone and develop their spots later. Think, Dalmatian dogs who are born white and develop their black spots later.

The printable version is found in "Paleontology" by clicking the above button and scrolling to the bottom of the part of the list that say "Animals from the Mesozoic Era."   Of course the drawing will also be in the "All Printables" page.  Just click the button and scroll to the bottom of the master list.

Ballrina in Snow Globe

I might have posted this before but I am not sure.  One of my grandnieces drew a ballerina in a snow globe.  It is a rather creative style she draws in so I wanted to post it again.  We are going to visit her family this coming weekend.   So, probably no new posts for a week since we will be visiting 4 different families in Wyoming.  I might go over her drawing to make darker lines when we get back.  Have a nice Easter!

Ballerina in Snow Globe

Mermaid chasing a Fish

Mermaid chasing a Fish

So, you will notice that this mermaid and the fairy has some features that indicate African American descent.  I will explain why.  A little 3 year old African American girl  asked me to draw her a mermaid and a fairy.  She is a relative of my nephew via marriage...so she FEELS like a relative as far as I'm concerned... She was very sweet and I decided to draw her a mermaid and a fairy that looked like her.  If you think this is original with me, think again.  Read the Brandon Mull series called "Fablehaven" and you will see that he depicts fairies as being of many different human races.  Lets face it folks, we are all the same species.

For example:  if a woman from China marries a man from Hawaiian Polynesian descent they can have children.  That makes them the same species.   That is the scientific argument.  I can also say that when I was teaching science in a Jr. High here in Salt Lake Valley, that many times kids of different races were best friends and their race was never an issue.

There is another argument by P.T. Barnum.  He pointed out, in a speech many years ago, that we all (whatever our race) are children of God.  I sincerely believe that and if you look at it another way, that makes us all Spirit Brothers and Sisters.   So it could be that the person who you don't like who is from a different ethnic background or etc.  MIGHT be someone you knew in our pre-Earth life.  So lets all try to get along.  It would make our Father in Heaven happy.

Maybe I should explain:  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or Mormons our doctrine teaches that we lived as Spirit Children of our Heavenly Father before we came to this Earth to be tested.  So that makes us ALL brothers and sisters. 

You may notice the large hands on the mermaid.  I thought of that as a possible evolutionary trait where having larger hands would help a mermaid catch fish or gather kelp in the kelp forest if they are herbivores or omnivores.  I did not really draw them intentionally that large, but as an evolutionary adapted trait of large hands made sense to me. . . so I left the large hands there.  I might change them one day, but really, not all people are born the same so maybe its is the same with mermaids and mermen.  And maybe  this mermaid's large hands are an anomaly or random genetic difference that is unique to her...and yet it will be a good adaptation so she will pass it on to her children and so on until all the mermaids have that trait.  That is called Natural Selection.  I would think that if mermaids were real that they would have a natural defense against sharks, like the reef shark in the drawing that is staying away from the mermaid.  Maybe mermaids have an ability to give an electric shock when they are threatened.

Fairy with a Young Unicorn

The printable versions of these drawings are found by clicking on the buttons labeled

 "Fantsy, Myths, and Circus.  The drawings will be at the bottom of the lists.  

Zentangles to Color part 3

Here are two more Zentagles from my grand-niece, Jadyn.   They are full page or close to full Zentangles so they are not totally traditional.   But the largest is done in the traditional random way.  I still think they should call them "Zendoodles."

Zentangle Large Flower Shape

Zentangle Full Page Doodle

Remember that the Printable Versions are found by hitting the "Zentangles" button or the "All Printables" button at the top of the blog page.   Have fun coloring them!  Thank you Jadyn!

Baseball and Mitt drawing to color

Baseball and Mitt

It is opening day for Major League Baseball in the USA and Canada.  Baseball, or something similar called fast pitch softball...was my father's favorite sport.  He could pitch a softball underhanded that went sooo fast and accurate.  He even threw rocks underhanded.  He would start with a slow movement as his arm went up then it would come around and he would release the ball or rock etc. underhanded and with accuracy.   I miss you Daddy! 

I drew this baseball and mitt several months ago...and I have been waiting for opening day of the major leagues to arrive to post the drawing. 

Jesus portraits

Jesus portrait outside of Jerusalem.  

My favorite thing to draw while at church is a portrait of Jesus outside the walls of old Jerusalem.  I also sometimes draw him calling his 12 Apostles...usually at the Sea of Galilee.  Sometimes I draw Jesus in other places too.  Often those drawings of Jesus are given away to kids sitting near me...so the drawings don't make it on this blog.

This top drawing was done 2 weeks ago, I just didn't get around to posting it.  I picture Jesus with large kind eyes and usually with a smile.  Most portraits or portrayals of Jesus have Him with a frown or neutral look.  Jesus was perfect so certainly (in spite of His suffering) He had His happy moments as well so I often draw Him with a smile on His face.  I think that when He told his Disciples or Apostles that "When the blind lead the blind they both shall fall into the ditch." was an example of Jesus making a joke.  The joke had a serious intent, but I would think that Jesus was smiling when He said it and possibly gesturing at a nearby ditch.  That is depicted in the below drawing.  I drew it last Sunday in Church.  You'll notice that there are only three apostles pictured. . . the others are to the right, just out of the picture.  (There wasn't room for all 12 on the picture.)

Remember that printable versions will be in the New Testament List found by clicking the top button that says "Religious."

Jesus making a Joke

Country Bunny Song

I wrote this song back in 1988 when I first began teaching public school.  I was teaching bilingual Kindergarten in Indio, California.  This was one of the songs I used to help the kids learn English.

This is a song parody based on the great book:  The Country Bunny And The Little Gold Shoes.

A previous post talks all about it and includes more drawings based on the 1939 book.  

Country Bunny

Copyright 1988 By Robin A. Lyman
Second verse Copyright 2015 By Robin A. Lyman and Kimberly Sullivan

Sung to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey

A small country bunny

Said I'm going to be

A great Easter Bunny

Just you wait and see

She had 21 Babies

She was wise swift and kind

She was the best bunny

Grandfather could find

He made her a bunny

That brought all the eggs

And gave her some gold shoes

When she hurt her leg

The other Easter Bunnies

Really did not mind

Cause to be an Easter Bunny

You're wise swift and kind

So if you're somebody

Who has a big dream

You may turn out to be

Much more than you seem

Zentangles to Color part 2

Here are a few more Zentangles from my grand-niece Jadyn.   I gave her Zentangles (or Zendoodles as I like to call them)...names that match their appearance.   The names really do match the drawings.

Zentangle Heartstrings

Zentagle Heartweave

Zentangle Flower in Dreamcatcher

Country Bunnies to Color for Easter... now including Daddy Bunny

The Book, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes is a classic.  I read it growing up...I think I swiped my Sister's copy.  She says I did.  It is an amazing book... well before its time.  It is empowering to females, and in my opinion it is also empowering to anyone who is marginalized or downtrodden.  I absolutely love the book.  These drawings are from last year but I wanted to re-post them for you so you would remember that they are here.   The book was written in 1939.

Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes book

In the story a small and young girl country bunny says she will one day be one of the 5 Easter Bunnies that deliver eggs to boys and girls all over the world.  She is laughed at by the fast jackrabbits and rich white bunnies.  But she says, "Wait and see."

It turns out favorably for her of course, but she has 21 babies first.  She teaches them to work.  This book also says you can be a mother...or parent... and still reach your dreams.  I recommend it highly!  The book is available online and I have also seen it at Barnes and Noble stores this time of year.  (Easter time of year)   I have also seen it available on many book websites like Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and even Walmart.com.  It can probably be found in many brick and mortar bookstores this time of year too.

One more point before I re-post the drawings... Many years ago I read a study that showed that successful people had only one thing in common...THEY ALL HAD CHORES TO DO AS KIDS!
So Mrs. Country Bunny teaching her kids to work is a correct principle we parents would do well to follow.

NOTE:  Printable versions of these drawings are on the "All Printables" page and on the "Holidays" page.  Just click on the buttons up top.  By the way, I  added one more Country Bunny drawing today.   You see, the book mentions that Mrs. Bunny was married.  So I drew him teaching a couple of his boys about farming.  I am inferring that Mr. Bunny would probably be a farmer.  The drawing of Daddy Bunny is now being included in the below drawings.  THIS drawing is not in the book in any way, but again, Mr. Bunny IS mentioned.  He was the father of the 21 babies. 

Country Bunny little girl bunny

Country Bunny Husband and Daddy

Country Bunny kids doing dishes

Country Bunny delivering eggs

Zentangles to Color

A Zentangle is an unplanned piece of art in black ink usually.  It is not really planned and it is not really supposed to be anything, although sometimes it appears to be something.  It is a kind of doodle.  (I keep thinking that they should be called "Zendoodles.)  Traditionally they are done on a 3.5 square inch or 89 mm square paper.  Most of these Zentangles on my blog today are not really traditional because they are larger.  This larger size makes them better coloring pages.  In order to color them you might do better with colored pencils or new or sharpened crayons.

NOTE:  All printable versions of my drawings are found by clicking the buttons at the top of the page.  The Zentagles will be found under the "Zentangles" button.    Zentangles are also found at the bottom of "All Printables."  All new drawings with new posts are at the bottom of the correct lists.  

Zentangle 4 Hearts

(Each of the above 4 Zentangles are more traditional in size.  I guess you could cut the
 individual drawings out in order to color them individually.)

All of these Zentangles are done by my grand-niece Jadyn.  I had admired her doodles or Zentangles when she showed them to me so I asked her to make these for me to post for you to color.  (I still want to call them Zendoodles.)  Some do look rather like flowers. . . some look like scenery, and some look like paisley patterns.  Still, they are not really meant to be a planned picture.  I wonder if the ones that look like flowers are based on the Fibonacci sequence or Fibonacci numbers.  Maybe not these, but some of the Zentangles I have seen LOOK like they are.  Just so you know, some plants and flowers and even parts of some animals have structures that match the Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci sequence is based on a sequence of numbers starting at 0 or 1.  Then the next numbers are based on the sum of the preceding two numbers.  Such as:  0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on...   Get it?  0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21, 13+21=34,
21+34=55... etc. etc. 

Now if you look closely at the Zentangle Flower down below you see at one point 4 petals + 4 petals = 8 petals at the next level.  Interesting Jadyn...sort of a short Fibonacci sequence. 

Zentangle Seaside View

Zentangle Paisleys

Zentangle Flower

Three more Zentangles coming tomorrow...

Woman at the Well

Girl at the Well with Jesus

There is a story in the Bible about a Samaritan woman who met Jesus at a well in Samaria.  Jesus prophetically told her that she had been married 5 times and at the present time the man she was with was not her husband.  She ran and told her village that a great prophet was here who told her everything she had ever done.

In this first drawing I tried to draw that story but I drew the woman too young.  But she looked like one of my 7th graders I used to teach and so I think I'll keep the drawing.  To fix the picture I drew a second woman...older this time, and I cut her out and pasted her over the original drawing of the girl at the well.

I think that this story is in the Bible to show how Jesus knew things that he could not have known . . . but because he was the divine Son of God he knew more than normal men.

Woman at the Well with Jesus

Desert Fairy

Desert Fairy

I imagined a desert fairy in the Mojave Desert.  She is dressed in Navajo cloth. She also has dark hair.  I would think that if fairies were or are real they would be of many different races.  After all, the World is populated with many different races.  This is a close up of the fairy...in other words, when you look at the drawing think of her in the close foreground, in front of everything else.

Also, many Native American Tribes have legends of "Little People" ...this includes the Crow, Shoshone, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Iroquois People. (I have an Iroquois ancestor.)  I don't know if  those legends say the Little People have wings like fairies.  Some legends say that the little people live in caves or in the forest.  The Little people are sometimes tricksters and other times they help the big people.   One legend says that they rescue children who are in trouble.

Since there are Saguaro Cacti in the drawing it must be in Arizona.  Arizona is pretty much the only place you find Saguaro Cacti . . .or cactus.  The other plants include the fairly newly discovered Barrel Cactus, Prickly Pear Cactus, Smoke-tree, Ephedra (Mormon tea), Agave and Yucca.  Agave tends to grow in Mexico.

Flower Evolution With T. rex, Dimetrodon, and Edaphosaurus

T. rex mother and chick among the Flowers

You see a T. rex drawing and think, "Why is this post about flowers?"  The answer is that new research out of Switzerland has discovered that flowering plants...including plants that needed insect pollinators, appeared 100 million years before was previously thought!   Scientists from the University of Zurich found pollen grains in in drill cores from 240 million year old rocks.  It was previously thought that flowering plants never appeared until near the end of the dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era.  Then other discoveries pushed it back to 140 million years ago in the Jurassic.  NOW it is shown that there were flowering plants BEFORE the dinosaurs...in the Early Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era. Since more than one species of pollen was found in the drill cores we can infer that possibly the flowering plants appeared well before the Triassic.

Another unique thing about this pollen that was discovered is that it had structures on the pollen grains to grab onto insect parts...so not only were there flowering plants, but there were flowers with petals.   So the Mesozoic Era was much prettier than previously thought.   By the way, this is the first drawing I recall doing with T. rex and flowers.  By the late Cretaceous Period clearly flowers and their insect pollinators. were an established part of the ecosystem.

The next drawing is of the Early Permian ecosytem.  Perhaps that was the first period of flowering plants.   You can see an Edaphosaurus feeding on flowers.   Yes there WERE quite possibly flowers then...according to the latest discovery....anyway, this Edaphosaurus is unaware that a Dimetrodon is sneaking up on her.  Both these large mammal-like reptiles are NOT dinosaurs.  Nor did they evolve into dinos.  The Dimentrodon just might be an ancestor to all modern mammals.  Di-metro-don means two length teeth.   Dimetrodon was the first animal to have canines, (canine teeth).   Both Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon had a sail that was proabably used for heating and cooling.  So they would probably turn perpendicular to the rising sun to warm up and parallel to the sun's rays to cool off in the midday breeze.  Edaphosaurus was an herbivore with a much smaller head than the predatory Dimetrodon.  Agian, these are NOT dinosaurs.  They are mammal-like reptiles. 

If you are wondering about the eye spots on the Edaphosaurs I drew, this is a possible adaptation for defense.  It makes the animal look bigger than they really are.  Some butterflies have eye spots on their wings.

Feel free to add insects like beetles flying around the flowers.  Beetles are known pollinators of the earliest flowers but they evolved later than the Permian or Triassic Periods.

Edaphosaurus feeding on Flowers

NOTE:  The printable versions of today's drawings are in "All Printables" (button above)
  and also the drawings are in "Paleontology" (button above)  The T. rex drawing is at the bottom of the list under Mesozoic Era and the Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon are under Paleozoic Era.

Velociraptor in the Gobi Desert

Velociraptors were found in the Gobi Desert.  Of course who knows what the dinosaurs called that desert 66 million years ago.  There is strong evidence that they preyed on one of the earliest Ceratopsians called Protoceratops.  (They are in the background.)  This is a drawing of only one Velociraptor, but they almost certainly hunted and lived in packs.  .  .  like wolves probably.  The inside claw was the killer claw that the raptor dinos kept off the ground to keep it sharp.  The erupting volcano may or may not have been probable in the Gobi Desert back in the Cretaceous, but since the Cretaceous Period was very volcanically active,  the volcano is a possibility.

Velociraptor in the Gobi Desert

YES I know you noticed the feathers and maybe thought it was a road runner. . .  but strong evidence of feathered raptors has been found many times in China.   So as much as I like the movie Jurassic Park.   It's bald Velociraptors were almost certainly wrong.  Also, Velociraptors were closer to 6 feet long (about 2 meters) and only around 4 feet (1.22 meters) tall.  I should also mention that the Pterosaur I drew was also from the Cretaceous, Pteranodons were probably not found in the Gobi Desert, however, the Paleontologists HAVE found fossils of large pterosaurs there from the late Cretaceous Period. 

Funny side note, I loved dinosaurs so much as a kid that I used to pray to dream about dinosaurs.  When I was in college at BYU  I went and saw the movie Jurassic Park.  That night I FINALLY dreamed about dinosaurs...only in the dream I was being chased by a T. rex through downtown Provo, Utah...where Brigham Young University is located.  Still, I DID dream about dinosaurs finally!

Blacktip Reef Shark

The Blacktip Reef Shark is one of the most abundant sharks in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  They feed on bony fish, crustaceans, cephalopods (squid, octopus, nautoloids, and cuttlefish) plus they also eat sea snakes and seabirds sometimes.

Blacktip Reef Shark

Size wise a Blacktip Reef Shark is about 1.6-2 meters long.  That is about 5.2-6.6 feet long.  The females carry the young for around a year or more and give birth to usually 2 live pups.  These sharks are timid and rarely approach people, although waders in shallow water sometimes are mistakenly bitten by them, but humans are not aggressively attacked.

Photo of Blacktip Reef Sharks from Living Planet Aquarium

Pat Cook Tribute

Pat Cook being thanked in the Spirit World

Pat Cook was a good man who I knew from my LDS or Mormon congregation.  He passed away recently.  He was a great man in my opinion.  When health challenges hit him...huge challenges that would have had most of us giving up...HE kept going.  He was an indexer, that is, he helped catalog and list names of people who have passed on so that their Temple Work could be done.  We believe in Baptism for the Dead and Pat's volunteer work as an indexer made it possible for tens of thousands to have someone in mortality be baptized for them.  I really think that there is a long line in the Spirit World right now as people are lining up to thank him for finding their names.  Pat's work in there behalf also made it possible for them to be sealed to their spouse and family.   In the rest of his life Pat was an honest, hard working family man.  He loved to learn and he never stopped learning.  He was kind to his wife and loved playing with his children and later in life his grandchildren.  In the world's eyes Pat was probably not a very notable person...but in God's eyes he was a giant.  One day his body, that was buried today, will be glorified and perfected and that glorious body will be reunited with his spirit.  His spirit will be busy in the mean time, probably teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people whose names he found.  Like them, now Pat is in the Spirit World, where he will teach the Gospel to those who have not had a chance to hear it in this life.   

Mallard Ducks

Mallard Ducks are a very common and successful species of duck that are native to several continents.  It lives in temperate and subtropical climates of North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.  It has also been introduced in several other countries including:  New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Columbia, Chile, and South Africa.  They also were introduced successfully in the Falkland Islands.

Males or drakes have a beautiful green or glossy green head and grayish bodies.  The females or hens have brown speckled feathers all over their bodies.. that speckling gives them great camouflage in reeds and grasses where they nest.  Males have the bright colors to attract the females.  It is probably a liability as far as any hiding from predators, but Nature has its ways of sacrificing camo for cute.  Both drakes and hens have speculum feathers that are white, blue and black on a small part of their wings.  The wingspan is around 32-39 inches or 81-98 cm.   Males or drakes can weigh up to 3.5 lbs or 1.58 kg.   Many Mallards will migrate to warmer temperatures in the winter.  Some will stay around city ponds or areas with water access and become part of a local flock.   When migrating in the winter the North American Mallards have been seen in the Carribean Islands, Mexico, and North America.

Mallards are called dabbling ducks.  That means that they graze on plants by upending on the water's surface and eating what they can get at.  They rarely dive deep.  This is also how swan and geese feed.  Many swan and geese also migrate like Mallard Ducks.   Swan, geese and ducks often fly in a V formation and take turns at the point or front.  This helps avoid fatigue or one leader getting too tired flying up front of the flock. 

Mallard Ducks
(This is the only NEW drawing on this post.)

In the drawing the male is up front closer to the foreground and the female is further away.  Remember, the female is brown-ish and that head on the male is a beautiful glossy green.

Swan realistic

Canadian Geese

By the way, some people have speculated that duckbill dinosaurs or hadrosaurs may have had a similar affinity for water as ducks, swans, and geese.  Dinosaurs, or at least most of them, lived on land most of the time, but many, like duckbill dinos probably could swim well.  So being a dinosaur nut that I am I am adding a drawing of a Parasaurolophus that is swimming.  By the way, ducks did NOT evolve form hadrosaurs.  The modern birds are sometimes called avian dinosaurs or avian theropods.  Ducks and all birds are indeed dinosaurs, but they evolved from the theropod or meat eating dinos.  As a dino-nut from a young age, I THOUGHT that duckbills or hadrosaurs evolved into ducks.  This is not true.  Kind of confusing, huh?

ONE more thing:  The duck bill on both hadrosaurs and ducks is an example of convergent evolution ....which is where a trait evolves independently in animals that are completely unrelated.  Another example is how dolphins and sharks are shaped very much alike, even though they are not related. 

Parasaurolophus Swimming Lessons
Notice the duck bill on this hadrosaur or duckbill dino.

Maiasaura

Maiasuara was a hadrosaur or duckbill dinosaur of the Cretaceous Period.  A Maiasaura nesting site was found in Montana, USA.  It was on what is now a ranch.  The nests were only about 7 feet or around 2 meters apart.  The nests were around 6-7 feet wide or about 2 meters wide.  The nests were 2.5 feet deep.  They were found with fossilized unhatched eggs and young of various ages.  Nests had around 20 eggs in each nest and the site had many nests.  When hatched the young were about 1 foot or .3 meters long.  This was the first time dinosaur embryos were found in North America.  They also found evidence of regurgitated plant material.   Dr. John Horner is the famous paleontologist who was in charge of excavation of the Maiasaura site.  He and Robert Makela also named the dinosaur.  The scientific name is:  Maiasaura peeblesorum.  "Maiasaura" means "good mother lizard."  This is the Genus name.  The species name (which is never capitalized) honors a ranch family named Peebles.  The fossils were found on the Peebles Ranch in Montana.

Maiasaura peeblesorum

My drawing shows both parents but we do not know if that was reality.  However, in many bird species the young are raised by both parents.  So it is reasonable to hypothesize or even infer that the young Maiasaura were raised by both parents.  As far as size, the adult Maiasaura were around 30 feet long and weighed up to 22,000 lbs or about 10,000 kg.  That is around 11 tons or 10 metric tonnes.
An interesting point is this hadrosaur had 4 fingers on their hands or front feet if you prefer.  One of the fingers was kind of like a thumb or dew claw on a dog.  Maiasaura had 3 toes on their feet like most bipedal dinosaurs.  They could walk as bipedal or quadrupedal animals...or on 2 feet or 4 feet.  The drawing shows parents watching the clutch of eggs beginning to hatch.  The hadrosaurs had teeth that kept growing throughout their lives.  At any given time Maiasaura had 150 teeth with about half of them being replacement teeth coming in and half being functioning teeth.  You might also notice a small crest in front of the eyes.  Some paleontologists think this may have been for adult males to fight each other for mating rights.  The crest was probably larger on males.

Maiasaura at Nesting Site simple drawing  

In this second drawing (above) there is only the mother present at the nest.  I should point out that I probably drew these eggs too large.  Since the nests had up to 20 eggs I suppose that the eggs should be smaller in comparison to the adults.  If you want to add a pattern of some kind that would be appropriate, since many modern reptiles have spots, or stripes etc.  I envision this as a young mother with her first clutch of eggs.  Remember that there would probably be many other Maiasaura nearby with their eggs.  However, there is a possibility that a young mother would not have a prime site among the older female's nests.  She might be at the edge of the nesting grounds.  This simpler drawing that lacks a horizon and background might be better for younger kids to color.  It is less intimidating. 

This next drawing is an older one.  It shows that duckbills, like Maiasaura may have been able to eat wood and bark with all those teeth.

Maiasaura feeding on Wood

Unicorn Cat, Leprechaun Cat and Fairy

Unicorn Cat, Leprechaun Cat and Fairy

I bought the T-shirt last March.  I found it to be very creative.  It is a S.C.A.M.P.E.R. ...well, the "C" part of SCAMPER.  It means "combine. " Combining things to make a new item is how we got "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."  This is combining cats, leprechauns, and I added a fairy.

About the fairy, my niece Charity was the model.  Charity is a dancer and so was the model for my Nike drawing.  The below is a photo of my T-shirt I wore to a Saint Patrick's Day party tonight.  The party is put on by my daughter's in-laws...who are of Irish descent.  (It was a great family party!)

You will notice that much of my drawing is inspired by the T-shirt, but my drawing is in my own style.  .  . plus I added the Fairy.  By the way, I said in my last post that leprechauns are actually a type of fairy so maybe in some weird way this drawing makes sense. 

Unicorn Cat & Leprechaun Cat from T-shirt

Leprechaun Dancing with his Gold

Leprechaun dancing with his Gold

Leprechauns are also called the "Little People."  They are said to live in Ireland.  They are a type of fairy.  But usually they don't fly...unless they are in love.  There is one excellent movie I want to recommend:  The Magical Legend of the Leprechaun.   It was a made for TV movie from several years ago.  It is VERY well done and we watch it every Saint Patrick's Day!

The letters on the rainbow represent the colors of the rainbow:  red orange yellow green indigo and violet.  Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!

Leprechaun with Fairy

Leprechaun with Gold

Potions Master Wizard Self Portrait

Wizard Self Portrait

Wizarding Dayz was a family friendly cosplay and fantasy event.  We, my wife and I did a Potions Class and this drawing is from the below photograph from that event.  The shelves are part of our potions class storage shelves.  

Potions Master Wizard Self Portrait

You can try the Potions Class activity at home.  You pour magical powder like Unicorn Horn Dust (baking soda) into a cup or mini-cauldron.  Then add about a tsp of Dragon's Blood (dish soap).  Stir them in.  Next add a few drops of 2-3 different Concentrated Magical mini-potions) food coloring).  Then add the Aromatic Magical Potion ingredient like Pepper-up Potion (vinegar) and watch the fun!  

Foaming Potions

Abraham and Issac and Truman G. Madsen

Abraham is stopped by an Angel

You may look at this drawing and say, "He drew Isaac too old."  You might ask also, "Why is the knife black?"  Maybe you are right about Isaac's age, but some biblical scholars think that Isaac was a young man, not a boy, when his father was commanded to offer the human sacrifice.   This makes it clear that Isaac was easily able to run off if he wanted to.  But, according to Jewish tradition, Isaac asked to be bound to prevent himself from stopping his father from completing the sacrifice.  The Jewish tradition calls this "The Binding."  You see, Abraham was promised that he would have millions of descendants via his son Isaac, then God seemingly commanded the unthinkable and told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  Abraham himself had almost been offered as a human sacrifice by an Egyptian Priest.  And also, Abraham had preached against human sacrifice.   You have to wonder if he was worried about what he was going to tell his wife, Isaac's mother, Sarah.

Abraham did as commanded...or rather, he was trying to do as commanded when an angel appeared and told him that he was being tested and that he should not kill his son.  This then led to Abraham noticing that there was a ram with its horns caught in a thicket.  Abraham untied his son Isaac and they offered the ram as the sacrifice.  Clearly it had been a test of Isaac's obedience as well.  Isaac went on to have 12 sons, the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.   This very difficult test was a type or symbolic of how our Heavenly Father would offer his own Beloved Son as a sacrifice for us.

I almost forgot, about the knife... It is possible, I think, that Abraham had an obsidian knife.  Obsidian is a form of volcanic rock that cooled into a glass.  It can be made so sharp that it is even used in some surgical scalpels.  So THAT is why I drew the knife black. 

I had a college philosophy class called "Mormonism and Judaism."  The professor was Truman G. Madsen, a renown Mormon who was an expert in Ancient Languages, Philosophy including Jewish Philosophy, Latter Day Saint Church History and Doctrine.  I learned SO much from Dr. Madsen and that class... including about "The Binding."  Truman Madsen helped open the Jerusalem Center in Israel.  BYU students can go there to study.

Truman G. Madsen

Dr. Truman G. Madsen has passed on now.  He had an incredible mind but as one of his former students over 30 years ago...I can also tell you how kind he was as well.  He, and his wife Anne (also a PhD and professor at BYU) always had time for me if I stopped by their office to talk.  To me that was a sign of truly great people.  I eventually became an elementary teacher and then a science teacher.  I wonder if Brother Madsen is pleased about that.

Below is a photo of the BYU Jerusalem Center.  I used this photo to help me draw the above picture.  You will notice that I simplified it some.   The center is situated on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem.  It is a satellite campus of Brigham Young University or BYU.  It must be a great view!

BYU Jerusalem Center