Revisited Mr Fox for the prompt for day 2. Remember him?
Mr Fox met his friend the dragon on his wanderings in the forest. They spent the evening sharing stories next to a fireplace until they got tired and settled down for the night.

Revisited Mr Fox for the prompt for day 2. Remember him?
Mr Fox met his friend the dragon on his wanderings in the forest. They spent the evening sharing stories next to a fireplace until they got tired and settled down for the night.

Woop! Here I was waiting all September for Inktober to start and then the month started without me noticing!
I haven´t touched my ink and pen since January. I totally forgot how much fun it is and it was surprisingly easy to get back into it. Certainly easier than the previous years. I´m going to follow the official prompt list again and maybe something else… Let´s see what happens.
Just follow the light…

I went to a Caravaggio exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Artes in Mexico City back in spring 2018.
I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed (maybe also my fault as I did not look at the information properly), but they only had one painting by Caravaggio. The rest of the exhibit was about him in form of a multimedia show and artworks by other artists that got inspired by him.
Nevertheless, I learned a lot about his style and especially his use of light and shadow. The museum in general was definitely worth a visit, as it is in a stunning building. Especially the permanent exhibition was great. That´s where I spotted the little horses from yesterday.
Below my impression of the only painting by Caravaggio at the exhibition.

I fell in love with Mexico because of its contrasts and colours. Especially in Mexico City you encounter so many different people. These fancy dressed girls on Avenida Horacio in Polanco, looked ready to hit one of those upscale restaurants you can find here.
I just went to that barrio for lunch and a stroll. Most of the places are way out of my budget.

Time to take a small break from my pelicans.
I have been thinking a lot about Mexico lately. My last trip was in 2018! Time flies indeed! I realized that I never finished my Mexico album. So I decided to revisit it an keep filling the remaining 30+ pages.
Saw these guys standing at a street corner in Polanco, Mexico City, during my stay in spring 2018.

Start of a new week. The pelican series will come to an end soon. As soon as I finish my pelican book!

I realized after drawing the pelican above that I have drawn him before. See below.
5 years are between both drawings. Which one do you prefer? I remember that the one below took me ages to finish. The one above was pretty much a 10 min sketch!

So this week once again just flew by quickly.
As the weather forecast is fantastic for the next couple of days, I will be off to a hiking trip in the Icelandic highlands. I also promise that the pelican series will come to an end soon. Latest when Inktober starts!
Have a great weekend everyone!

When you are thinking about your next dinner….
My favourite fish is salmon. What is yours?

Pelicans can eat 4 pounds of fish per day.
They will take large amount of water together with the fish they catch. But before swallowing the fish, they move their heads forward to remove excess water.

It has been raining almost non stop for 9 days now… wondering how the sun looks like….

Off to the countryside to barbecue some fish. We not gonna catch it ourselves, that is too much work. But the eating part, we certainly can do.
Colourwise this pelican is one of my favourites so far. What do you think?
Happy weekend everyone!

A lone swimmer…

No, I have not gone pelican mad. But I still enjoy drawing them.
Find the odd one out of this group!




… or is he just hungry? I am not sure. What do you think?

Although not being considered dangerous, pelicans are quite big and you wouldn´t want to mess with them!
The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish, but occasionally amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds, and mammals are also eaten. The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location. Apparently pelicans have even been observed eating smaller birds, sometimes scooping up water in order to drown them before swallowing.

Did you know that pelicans fly at an average speed of 25 km/h but they have been record with top speed of up to 65 km/h?
Their wing span ranges from 183 cm – 350 cm depending on the species. So yes, they are quite massive and you rather don´t mess with them.
Have a great weekend everyone!

The brown pelican is a unique feeder that makes impressive dives from above the surface. They fly just above the surface of the water, then circle high, and when ready dive headfirst, plunging under water to catch fish.
They are able to dive from as high as 30 meters! The deeper the meal the higher the dive.
This pelican landing turned out purple for artistic expression.

Who has seen a baby pelican? I haven´t. Something unusual about the populations of coastal pelicans is that baby pelicans are never seen.
Pelicans nest far away in inland or remote locations in large breeding colonies. The pair chooses a relatively flat nest site on gravel, sand, or soil near other pelicans at the same stage of the breeding cycle. In southern, drier regions, they nest amongst sparse vegetation. In forested regions, sites may be under shrubs or trees.
Both parents feed their young.

From about 25 days old, the young pelicans gather in “pods” or “crèches” of up to 100 birds. The parents recognise and feed only their own offspring.

Pelicans are very social birds. They live in large colonies composed of several hundreds of birds. A group of pelicans has numerous collective nouns, including pod, scoop and squadron.
Happy Sunday everyone!

Pelicans are a characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing.
There are 8 different living pelican species. You can find them ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America and from polar regions and the open ocean.
