July's Doodle Day

I have good intentions to doodle daily, especially since Alison Hertz's Doodle Day group on Facebook is such a fun place to hang out. But, most months, I don't get around to sketching regularly. *hanging head in shame*
July's prompts were all about animals, which is a favorite topic of mine, so I made an effort to play along. Here are my quick (most of them taking 5 to 10 minutes) drawings.

I started out with graphite...

dog - large breed

 But then, I noticed my box of charcoals...and remembered how in love I was with them once upon a time. And you know what, I'm still in love with them.

dog - small breed

cat - long-haired

cat - short-haired

fish - moray eel; I hope I put that song in your head!

squirrel - flying (a.k.a. Super Squirrel)

when I got too busy, I combined the next two topics: deer and rabbit

Right after that last piece, I bought the Art Studio app for the iPad on Sylvia Liu's recommendation. I've never done digital art before, so took the opportunity to play with it, doing quick gestural sketches:

raccoon

opossum

another mash-up from not having enough time - snake and chipmunk

I cheated on July 13, and used this panda I did back in 1988

I didn't do a new doodle for July 14th either, but substituted this kakapo pastel piece for the "parrot" theme

Compared to the more traditional pieces like the two previous ones, my digital drawings are "quick and dirty" but I think they convey a lot anyway.

l'éléphant dansant

Which inspired a little limerick:

There once was a young dandy elephant

Who fancied himself trés suave and elegant.

’Til one day, by chance

He was invited to a dance,
And found he was quite out of his element.

giraffes are weird, weird looking beasts and their spots are a pain to draw

I tried combing two prompts, giraffe and octopus, but I wasn't pleased with the octopus, so I tried my hand at a seahorse (next)

the theme of the day was aquarium animal

in honor of the first moon landing of July 20, 1969

have never drawn a griffin before; may never draw another again

chimera - some depict it with a lion and goat head and a serpent on the tail, but I prefer the equal footing creation with all three heads on the shoulders

For the owl prompt, I did a sketch of a Barn Owl cocking its head...

but I really didn't like it, so I drew a second one, which I liked slightly better even though it's creepier:

Barn Owl, take 2

jaguar, reaching for something...

comedian in training

also a funny guy

I need to fix the shadow on this; makes him look like he's floating

a little coquettish, no?

third time cheating this month: for the theme of mouse today, I used this sketch I did back in the mid 1990s

baby chameleon

Hope you've enjoyed this art post today as much as I enjoyed participating in Alison Hertz's July Doodle Day!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams