kid lit art

That’s Right WoodChuck Chuckers…

| Gina Lento

It’s GROUNDHOG DAY!

Groundhog Day was always one of those days that you acknowledged but didn’t make much of a fuss about, (unless winter has been an especially cold and snowy one…) until the movie “Groundhog Day” came out.

I fell in love with the movie immediately. We even had a VHS version, then a Blue Ray version of the movie in our library. If the movie wasn’t on TV on February 2, then I would pop the movie in and watch the video version with my family.

My children were small when the movie came out but as they got older, it began to be a tradition to watch it in our house. It wasn’t just that the movie was funny. It was philosophical and theological. What would you do if you relived the same day over and over? Is there a Supreme Being reliving days over and over and that’s how they know everything? I am sure Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis were thinking more along the lines of poking fun at the day when they wrote the script, but the movie became so much more that I am sure they intended. It was done so well and it really makes you ponder life as you are being entertained.

The lines in the movie are classic. How can you ever look at a groundhog and not think “don’t drive angry?” That line was so hilarious in that setting. And my special favorite was Bill Murray when he’s on the phone “What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today!” OMG, that made me laugh. I am sure many of us sitting at desk job have thought that very thing.

The music, too. As soon as the opening theme comes on the TV, it doesn’t matter where you are in the house, you know what movie is coming on. It’s as distinctive as the James Bond themes.

If you are working from home today, the movie is on repeat on the AMC channel.

Enjoy!

Groundhog Day sketch done in a Hahnemuhle sketchbook using Arteza brush pens and a Lamy safari with Carbon ink. Hand lettered. Groundhog looks like he could pass on the whole day.
It’s Groundhog Day!

Inktober Day 19

| Gina Lento

Wow, 13 days to Halloween and 13 days left in the Inktober Challenge. Today’s prompt is ponytail and I decided to have a little fun today with…..a pony!

Yeah, I could have done a girl with a ponytail but I thought it would be more fun to draw a pony. A happy little thing with a big flippy tail. Usually I am trundling along, trying to make the prompts fit my Little Witch series. I was going to do my Little Witch series but then I just started playing with different things in my sketchbooks and I moved on to other ideas. I have to say I have been having fun pulling ideas from my head but that’s part of the whole Challenge.

Being since today is the first day of the 13 days of Halloween, I am playing with working on a side project to the Inktober posts. I have a prepped sketchbook but since I only want to do 13 days plus maybe Dias de Los Muertos, I may just make one just for this quick side project. The prepped one I have has more pages than what I want for this side project. I also have to run our truck to the dealer for it’s 15,000 mile maintenance today so we’ll see how far I get with that.

Our sweet little Chloe had her oral surgery yesterday. She needed her teeth cleaned but since she’s getting older, some of her teeth needed to be pulled, too. She came through the whole procedure like a champ. The vet we are using now is very good and said that Chloe did very well. Their process is very safe and the vet explained that if there were any issues, they could pull them out of the anesthesia quickly. I feel much better that she had her teeth cleaned. We tried to do the “awake” cleaning with Chloe but she gave the techs a tough time. Maybe now that the bad teeth are out we can try it again. It takes two people to do Chloe’s nails so we’ll see. As tiny as she is, she’s tough and wears you down. She’s such a diva.

Mack did the “awake” cleaning with no problem at all. They said he was a very good boy. He also gets his nails trimmed like a good boy, too.

Inktopber Day 19 Ponytail Pen and Ink drawing of a prancing pony with an elegant flippy tail ie ponytail
Inktober Day 19 – Pony Tail

Inktober Day 16

| Gina Lento

Over the mid month hump and into a prompt most “fowl.”

There are a ton of birds that fit this category, but I went with a chicken. Chickens are pretty cool. They come in all sorts of shapes and feathers. I like the ones that look like they have chicken hair dos.

Chickens are usually thought of as barnyard creatures but I have found that over the years, chickens are not just farm animals. When I used to live on Long Island (NY), there are a few chickens that ran the neighborhood. One chicken took it upon herself to be her block’s watch dog. If you went near a house and she didn’t like you; you were chased down the street. The USPS mail lady said it took a while before the chicken stopped bothering her. I am sure if she carried bird snacks instead of doggie biscuits, that would have helped, too.

On Bermuda, of all places, chickens literally run amuck. They are wildlings that have the run of the island and make small chickens. At first the government wasn’t too happy about it, but the tourists like them so they leave them be. After all, if there is a food chain shortage, there won’t be a shortage of eggs on that island. There are some really pretty and neat looking chickens on Bermuda.

So when it came to picking my fowl for the day, I had to pick a chicken. I wouldn’t mind having home grown eggs but their are too many predators here. If the coyotes don’t get them, the bobcats will. And bobcats can jump some really high fences. They are really impressive jumpers, having seen them jump a fence first hand. Then there are owls and other raptors in the air so alas, chickens are off my pet list.

Inktober Day 16 Fowl Pen and ink drawing of a walking chicken
inktober day 16 – fowl

Inktober Day 15

| Gina Lento

The middle of the month is here, if you don’t count the fact that they are 31 days in October. It is the 15th day of the Inktober Challenge and today’s prompt is “armadillo.”

Armadillos are these odd creatures that most of the time, Floridians see them on the side of the road as roadkill. The poor dears. However, if you are lucky enough to see one live (they are nocturnal like opossums so most of the time you have to be out at night to see them), they are really cool little creatures that like to wreck lawns. They are funny looking and cool all at the same time. They are very busy rooting around for insects and such. They totally don’t seemed to be phased by humans unless they feel threatened and then they roll up in a ball like a pill bug.

They crack me up. They really do look like they are wearing armor. They are a “look don’t touch” creature because apparently they can contract leprosy, which is gross. Humans can get it from them so I am really cool with letting them root around the property as long as they do their thing without me getting involved. Whatever they catch and eat is theirs.

Wildlife in Florida is fascinating but a lot of creatures are “don’t touch.” They are either poisonous, dangerous or endangered so it’s best to take the approach of taking photos and letting creatures live without being harassed. I’m cool with that. I love observing nature and the only time we get involved is when their lives can be threatened, like gopher tortoises on busy roadways. You’d be amazed how many Floridians stop traffic to help a tortoise cross a highway. Most folks just stop and wait until the tortoise is safely deposited on the side of the road and the person is back in their car, and then everyone continues on with their day. Gotta love the wildlife.

Inktober Day 15 Armadillo Pen and ink drawing of an armadillo rooting around in a lawn
Inktober Day 15 – Armadillo

Inktober Day 14

| Gina Lento

The prompt for Day 14 is “empty.” My Chihuahuas, Chloe and Mack, are very food focused and empty plates are a cause to create a relentless nagging until they get their next meal. Because Chihuahuas can get hypoglycemic, especially as puppies, our dog children are fed small portioned meals spaced out three times a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chloe and Mack get my hubby up early for their breakfast. My husband used to get up early to commute into NYC and he still wakes early because of it. The dynamic duo sense his sleep pattern changing and they are on him like flypaper until he gets up and feeds them breakfast. Usually some drama of coughing and sneezing like they’re on their last breath. They’re dying because they are thinning by the minute until they get breakfast. Then that wakes me and we’re all up at 6AM. They get fed, go out to go potty, and are back in a coma while we have to try to fall back asleep again.

When we cat sit our grand kitties, the two kitties used to be upset about being with us until they watched and studied this whole drama. They learned that Chloe and Mack wake up the humans for food. Which is cool because when the doggies get fed, the kitties get fed, too. The kitchen becomes chaos when the kitties are here. Then, they go home, and treat their mom, my daughter, to a whole new and unwelcome AM feeding schedule.

That tail, tale? all told, “empty” has a different meaning in our house than those without animal companions. Empty means someone’s belly requires filling. And God help us if there is a chicken or turkey in the oven! They know and they become relentless. Chloe will sit in front of that stove until the poultry comes out.

Inktober Day 14 Empty Pen and ink drawing of a cat and a dog sitting in front of empty dishes.
Inktober Day 14 – Empty

Inktober Day 8

| Gina Lento

It’s the eighth day of the Inktober Challenge and today’s prompt is “match.” Now I have to admit, the first thing I thought of to skate by this one was to draw a match stick and be done with it. That was a pretty simple solution. OK, I could have sketched a pack of matches or a box of stick matches if I really wanted to do something more involved. That would have take a little more time but it would have been interesting.

Or I could have just made my life easier, drew the match with a flame burning for the Day 5 post and then been a wise ass today and just posted “see day 5 for today’s “match.” That would have been a little bit simple as well, right? But it would have kind of defeated the purpose of doing each prompt separately and it’s not like we are being graded for these.

I could draw a match with a face and burning hair. (Which makes me think of the burning candle(?) from one of the “Christmas Carol” movies.) Mmmm, a little bit scary? No.

Then I just drew one of my little witch’s and suddenly I thought of two witch sisters in matching outfits so I did a sketch and that’s how today’s drawing came to be. Unfortunately, working with ink means an occasional mishap, and I accidentally smeared this one a little, but it still looks ok. That’s really the only negative about working traditionally is you can mess things up a bit. But some things can be repaired digitally so if I were to take this and scan it, I could remove anything I thought was a problem. White out doesn’t really look good on the text wove paper. Best to leave it and not make it any worse.

Inktober Day 8 Match Pen and Ink drawing of two little witches holding hands with matching outfits and holding pumpkins. They have striped tights and dresses decorated with stars. Their witch hat have sickle moons. Grey ink added for shading and interest. Also show with Uniball vision, Lamy Safari and Kuretake Cambrio pens
Inktober Day 8 “Match”

Uh oh Frog

| Gina Lento

On my Zoom call today with Mike Lowery, we had to decide on what prompt to draw. Someone suggested a frog. We have frogs all over the place, here. When my husband and I go for our morning walk, we have to dodge these tiny little frogs. You can barely see them. One morning there were hundreds of them and my husband remarked about the quantity. I said it was just logical, there needed to be so many babies because of how many get eaten or suffer some other ill fate.

So of course, my idea of “frog” is “egret chow.” The egrets (herons and ibis) stroll around the neighborhood, scarfing up frogs and lizards, and whatever else they find edible.

My sketch of frog was more of an egret and a frog hiding from the egret.

Pens and ink sketch of frog hiding from an egret in a marsh.
Egret and frog sketch

I pulled the sketch into Procreate and then tweaked it:

Egret and frog in a marsh. digital black and white
Digital version of Frog and Egret

The frog needs to find a better hiding spot.

Horse on a bike sketch

| Gina Lento

I am taking Mike Lowery’s workshop “Getting Paid to Draw” and on our Zoom call, we were given the task to draw a horse on bike while he did his lesson.

This is my horse on a wobbly bike. This is untouched except that I removed my notes around it. I might take this one further.

PS, this is a good class!

Black and white w/grey line drawing of a horse on a bicycle.