a trekking triceratops

© Heather B. Warriner 2012

Even before becoming a mama of little guy, I've been drawn to imagery that tends to be linked (at least in the rather stereotypical world of marketing, children's toys, and kids' products) to boys.  Monsters and robots...these are the things that much of my recent artwork has consisted of.  I never find myself drawing princesses or rainbows or ballerinas.  Rarely do butterflies or flowers grace the pages of my sketchbooks.  So, I wasn't all that surprised when, a few weeks ago, I was out running errands with my husband and son and announced to them (pretty much out of nowhere), "I think I'll start drawing dinosaurs next!"  I'm pretty sure Dan has come to accept that such seemingly random announcements are simply part of the way that my mind works.  Bits of ideas are constantly swimming around up there, and eventually they formulate into decisions, creative brainstorms, and artistic goals.  Perhaps Owen has yet to realize that this is how his mama works.  But, he does already recognize the sorts of things that I like to draw.  Robots are a given when it comes to our drawing time together.  He can now say the word "robot" and seems pleased when I sketch quick little crayon and marker versions of them for him.

After my decision to embark into prehistoric subject matter for my illustrations, I finally sat down this week and worked on my first dino, a triceratops  And while he's the first dinosaur I've drawn, I doubt that he'll be the last. Whenever new subjects take over my creative ponderings, they tend to gain a monopoly on my computer screen and drawing pads as well.  Plus, dinosaurs are quite charming in their own rough, scaly, spiky, horn-covered sort of way.