Tuesday, May 25, 2010

MOBY-DICK, Page 257

Title: But the placing of the cap-sheaf to all this blundering business was reserved for the scientific Frederick Cuvier, brother to the famous Baron. In 1836, he published a Natural History of Whales, in which he gives what he calls a picture of the Sperm Whale. Before showing that picture to any Nantucketer, you had best provide for your summary retreat from Nantucket. In a word, Frederick Cuvier's Sperm Whale is not a Sperm Whale, but a squash.

8 inches by 10.75 inches
acrylic paint and ink on found paper
May 25, 2010

6 comments:

  1. Was hoping you'd pick that line to illustrate.

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  2. I've been following your project since the first month, and this is the first drawing to make me laugh out loud. Wonderful!

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  3. I really dig this one. Nailed the "Field Guide to..." style. I like the background weathering too.

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  4. Daryl, definitely. How could I not? It is one of the many, many wonderfully funny lines and I simply couldn't pass it by.

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  5. Naomi, thank you, it is really cool to hear from someone who has been following along since the first month! I am very happy to know I was able to make you laugh out loud, that does my heart good indeed.

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  6. A, thank you. I was really taken with this line, but absolutely torn about how to depict it. Literally? Abstractly? Symbolically? In the end, I tried for a bit of each of those, and ended up being very pleased with the result. Thank you for the "Field Guide To..." comment to, that was very good to read.

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