Have you ever wished that you were from somewhere else? Or that you WERE someone else? At times, I am sure that we've all done so. I think it is a part of our human nature. One part of pretending that we are someone else is the "lie". One must lie in order to become who we are not or get what isn't ours. Sometimes we do it because we aren't happy with who we are. Or we want the excitement of being someone different… even if only for a little while. And it starts at an early age… in the games we play… in the excuses that we make… in the boasts we make to get attention…
I always thought that these were part of what made us human. Not in a good way, but human none-the-less. Some say that only humans kill for the sake of killing. But that isn't true. I find dead lizards on my doorstep and in my front walkway that the neighbors' cats leave. They kill to garner attention… or for fun. And it's not just cats… dogs kill too. It's part of the pack mentality. Killing seems to be the domain of most animals in one way or another. What I did not know is that animals can lie as well. I was recently watching PBS and saw the latest installment of Nature called "Clever Monkeys". One segments of the story told of a particularly shifty monkey who yells "SNAKE!" to send all of the members of his troop scurrying into the trees for safety so he could get that bird's egg for himself. It was eye-opening.
30 comments:
great drawing... fantastic expression!
That look Michael...is your (OUR)animal side !!!
He's wild yet eerily familiar. Great piece!
Wow, awesome figure. I'm going to pretend that he doesn't scare me with that look.
Very interesting post, and beautiful drawing! I once saw a show where they thought someone was murdering dolphins. But it turned out to be a kind of serial killer dolphin doing it. Weird! On the other end of the spectrum, I watched a nature show on PBS about the elephants and their amazing capacity for love and family...how if they find bones from an elephant they knew, they will stroke the bones and pay respects.
Great drawing and cool story to go with it!!!
thanks to everyone for the kind comments… and don't get me wrong senta… i think animals have an enormous capacity for compassion… what got me so much was that the monkey lied… i expect them to be clever and crafty and even to engage in a bit of monkey warfare… but the fact that a monkey can and does lie really floored me…
Thank goodness we're not monkeys lol! Great job.
Wonderful details and design! Very original concept, too!
http://indigeneartforms.blogspot.com
this is fantastic!! beautiful, brilliant drawing - and I loved reading the text too - wonderful:-)
Hi Michael, I love the background in strokes with different directions, simple but look great, it can highlight your character in the picture, too!
Great drawing, very expressive!
I think we're all a bit monkeyish every now and then. Excellent drawing...really striking. And just a little scary.
Thanks for the story. I've always thought monkeys were exceptionally clever. Now I'm sure of it. Awesome drawing and background. Thank you for your nice comments.
By the way...I did some graphic design freelance work for this person and I sent him a lo rez file for approval, and I haven't heard from him. I told him it took me 5 hours to design, but it actually took about 8 hours. I'm not a very domineering person, but I want to get paid for my work, which was good. What would you do?
Thanks for visiting!
Fantastic piece. The line work is great...
By the way, I still haven't figured out how to repair my mind.
This is one ponderable post! Great illustration to go with your words! Civilization, sometimes both human and animals have it, but sometimes both lack of it!
This was so very interesting. I enjoyed this great read. Honestly it was very deep and thought provoking for me. I love the sketch. Lots of feeling in there. Great piece.
Nice take on the topic Michael! Great line work!!
Michael, I´ve tagged you. I like your drawings and words.
this is really cool illustration. it seem that it is pretending to be looking on something else and yet, it seem that his eyes can see anyone around him. great drawing esp. with the eyes and the expression itself
This guy is so well done and a lil bit scary but I dig it! Cool idea and story too :)
didnt know monkies lied oh well, nice work
Wonderful drawing! And I love your post.
Hmmmm, sounds like survival of the fittest. It also sounds like I've dated a few of those monkeys :) Thank God I'm done with that phase!
The cross-hatched background brings up wonderful memories of some of my first drawings. I never knew why I did that cross-hatching thing. One day I was handed some of my Grandfather's drawings and there it was, plain as day. Yes, the same cross-hatching. The catch is I'd never seen any of his work until after he'd died. The other thing is even though I was named after him he never got to know that I had followed in his footsteps.
I love your drawing btw. This isn't all about ME :)
thank you all for sharing your thoughts on this illustration… senta's story about the serial killer dolphin is just one more scary thing i never knew about animals…
the background seemed to awaken almost as many questions as the baboon… studio lolo sure did have a warm story to offset my dark thoughts… actually i started using that style for backgrounds as a child drawing comic books…
on to next week…
Hi Michael,
Sorry to visit you late.
I really love to visit your blog because your works always make me stop and ponder....
This pretend piece is beautifully finished with great details. Loving the background too:)
How long you have spent for this illo Michael?
Just got over here...Great portrait. So...you certainly can pack a lot into a post. Story-telling is lies as well, but these are lies we need. Otto Rank talked about vital lies (see Ernest Becker's Denial of Death for an expansion of that and other ideas of Rank).
Holy words and beautiful illo!!!
marcello
Haha, yes, you too were inspired by this excellent program Michael. That part you just mentioned both blew me away and made me laugh. What an excellent drawing too!
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