Leonora Carrington’s totem animal, and the animal most commonly seen in her work, is a white horse. Carrington is an example of a female artist who identified strongly with animals, and used them constantly in her work throughout her career. Creatures both real and imaginary populate her canvases in great numbers.

Carrington’s work evokes “an alternative world of harmony, where humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects are on an equal footing”. These animals are usually portrayed as benevolent messengers from a parallel fantasy reality in which form is not constrained by physical laws. While some of Carrington’s creatures are beings of pure fantasy, and as such could be viewed as distortions of the real, they do not exhibit the harsh aggression against the corporeal which is often evident in the work of male Surrealists.

The painting And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur demonstrates this peaceable approach. Carrington’s interest in animals, mythology, and the connection that women have to these things is evident here. Janice Helland writes that “most of the components of the painting are symbols for female deities or magic: the white dog and the grain are symbols of the Greek goddess Demeter; the butterfly can be associated with the Minoan goddess or with a female deity in general…The image is serene, calm, commanding, and sovereign. Dread, debasement, and erotic violence are absent.”

A World Without Technology
Interestingly, machines are absent as well. Carrington’s dream architecture, populated by crystal balls, children in dark capes, and a mysterious white dancing figure, all beneath a ceiling of clouds, evokes an archaic place very far removed from the technological violence of the twentieth century. This absence of machines and technology is all the more striking when one considers their prominence in the work of male contemporaries such as Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Max Ernst. Ernst, in particular, was a very important figure in Carrington’s life both personally and artistically, and yet her art shows little or no influence from him.

Carrington’s well known Self-Portrait reinforces the theme of the mythical animal. In this painting, Carrington’s image of herself reaches out toward a hyena while looking at the viewer. Her advocacy of a world where “fabulous animals share the existence of the portrayed Leonora” is clear. The rocking horse behind her, and the white horse which can be seen galloping across the landscape through the window, speak of escape and a return to a world of nature. The work as a whole “gives animal and mythical expression to newly found love and freedom”.

Rather than rebelling in a violent way against those who would control her, Carrington creates a parallel reality in her paintings in which, represented by animals and female deities, she is in a position of strength where she is not in danger of being used as a vehicle for the schemes or motives of someone else. Rather than confronting reality and attempting to overcome it, Carrington retreats from the struggle and creates another reality in which she feels more at home.

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Decorating the walls with the pictures of wild animals is a great way to ass mystic beauty to the place. Many people are fond of paintings of animals including the pets and wild animals. Wild animal art is not new to the human beings. Paintings of animals are found in caves where the pre historic men lived. Wild animal art is the widely recognized art that depicts the natural world and the inhabiting wild animals. The wild animal art is universal covering the different cultures and continents.

The wild animal art comes from the real pictures of animals. Artists who are interested in painting wild animals can always be found with a camera wherever they go. These artists will take photos in their cameras and will then start developing the paintings. The wild animal art will have minute details and the resulting painting will look very natural as it is present in the photograph. Some artists love to draw wild animals when they are in bad moods.

Many skills are required for painting the wild animals. It is necessary to bring the natural surroundings in the painting more realistic. The success of the painting depends on the skill of the artist to express the surrounding ambiance. The wild animals are to be painted with the wild surroundings for a more realistic view.

Before drawing a wild animal it is necessary to know more about the animal. The place where it lives is important because drawing a monkey inside a cave will not be realistic. The successful painters will search and study more about the anatomy of the animal. This is important to make the animal look real in the picture. The fur color and the bone structure of the wild animal need to be researched so that the wild animal art looks perfect. Those artists who have the skills to use the light and shadow effect in the painting correctly are found to succeed in bringing out the best wild animal art.

Many wild animal artists are capable of drawing hidden animals. These paintings will have the picture of an animal and the surroundings will have paintings of other small animals. The success of these paintings is that the small animals will not be visible at the first sight as they will be hidden in the atmosphere. A closer look of the painting will reveal the animals that are hidden. Excellent painters are able to hide about ten animals within a single painting.

The mood of the animal is important in painting the wild animal art. Depending on the sunlight setting and the mood the painting will give a feeling of the presence of the wild animal. The wild animal artists have a great knowledge about the light setting and the reflection of light in the surroundings. These artists paint a picture from the photograph of the animal they have chosen to paint. Wild animal art is done in canvas and mostly with oil medium to give a gloss. Some artists use their own style of painting which has got world wide recognition.

The wild animal artists are mostly wild life enthusiasts. They are interested in preserving the wild life and they use their paintings for wild life conservation awareness. Some of the artists donate a part of the money they earned by selling their paintings, for conserving the wild animals. Many artists search for pictures of endangered species and bring them in their paintings as it can be used as a mode for creating the awareness about the species. you can find many online websites that are selling wild life art for a good cause.

In the mid 1480s, Leonardo moved from Florence to Milan. At that time, Milan was one of the most powerful city-states in Northern Italy. And, it’s Duke, Ludovico Sforza, commissioned Leonardo to make a horse like no other to honor the Duke’s father, Francesco Sforzo. It was to be a massive, bronze-cast statue – the largest statue ever built, standing 24 feet high.

Leonardo made a great number of preparatory drawings for his Sforza Horse. His notebooks are filled with proportional studies of horses. There are detailed diagrams of the anatomy of horses, along with notes on how to cast it, and it would weigh 80 tons once complete! Leonardo made the clay model to scale, but the bronze horse was not to be. In 1499, the French army threatened an attack. The metal intended for the Sforza Horse would be needed to make canons. Leonardo left Milan before the French Army marched on the city. Seeing the massive clay horse, the French soldiers could not resist using it for target practice.Thereafter it was reduced to rubble. Leonardo became despondent and at the same time, vowed to one day see his horse completely built.

Much has been written throughout history about the “Horse that Never Was”. Five hundred years after the destruction of the clay model, based on the notes and sketches of Leonardo, the 24-foot bronze horse was cast. In fact, two full-scale statues were completed. One stands in Michigan, while the other was given as a gift to the City of Milan. United Airline Pilot Charles Dent made it happen. Upon seeing the original sketches that had been rediscovered in Spain, he started the process of raising the necessary funds to build the full-scale, bronze horse. His plan was to give it as a gift to the Italians from the Americans. Being something of a sculptor himself, he built a clay model of the horse to Leonardo’s specifications. And, although Charles Dent died in 1994, his dream lived on and over four-million dollars was raised. On September 10th, 1999, exactly 500 years after the French destroyed Leonardo’s clay model, the bronze statue was unveiled in Milan. On October 7th, 1999, a second casting of the horse was unveiled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This second horse is known as the American Horse.

Along with his sudies of mammals, Leonardo made hundreds of bird sketches. In the medieval publication Lives of Artists, Giorgio Vasari tells how Leonardo would go to the markets and buy caged birds, and then open their cages, giving them back their freedom.(1) Leonardo studied the motion of their wings in flight as well as their anatomy and physiology. He wrote down and illustrated his own theories on the flight of birds and was inspired to make several sketches of mechanical flying machines. He wrote a treatise called Codex on The Flight of Birds in which he made diagrams of a helical wing, beating wings, a parachute, and bat wings. Later he realized the problems with human-powered propulsion and began making notes and diagrams of gliders. He also designed a machine based on a helical screw that was 32 or 33 feet in diameter.(2) It was supposed to lift off and fly as the blade rotated, resembling a modern-day helicopter.

Leonardo’s passionate interest in studying animals was unique for his time. He studied and observed animals, and sketched and painted them with grace and realism. Other Renaissance artists like Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Raphael (1483-1520), who focused more on the humanity and divinity in art, did not include animals in their works to the extent as Leonardo did.(3) Without neglecting the Divine in Humanity, Leonardo above all other Renaissance artists, elevated all of nature and made it part of the Divine.

Scaffolded Drawing Exercises
When starting out, many beginners think drawing animals will be a difficult a task. This daunting view of artistic endeavour is often called talent. To believe that one must possess talent to be able to learn to draw can be disempowering. This discouraging idea often develops because “would be artists” see the whole picture that they would like to capture. They do this without realising that artists go through stages before they realise this polished finished.

It is more advantageous for beginning artists to realise that even though there is work required, artistic technique is a body of knowledge that can be learnt gradually and sequentially. Drawing is an area of knowledge that is best acquired through daily practice. Most artists build up sketches structurally so that after a process of careful arrangement the polished drawing emerges as a whole picture. This is achieved through the application of layers of rendering and detail.

To scaffold learning experiences in a user friendly manner, Hodge has organised a step by step explanation of basic techniques. By doing this she explains how to capture the visual appearance of an animal. She focuses on tone, solidity, shape, character, expression, and movement.

Developing a Personal Drawing Style
Material presented in How To Draw Animals, is not exhaustive. Would be artists may find the need to ferret out other resources in an attempt to emulate others as they hone their skills as they evolve and master a more personal drawing style of their own. However, these demonstrations should be thought of as the basic building blocks of drawing and they provide a very good starting point for students experimenting with style and technique. The book is a useful tool for students as they start on a visual journey in an exploration of what works for them. With time and practice students will invent their own drawing style.

Demonstration of a Variety of Techniques
Hodge carefully discusses the qualities of various media as she demonstrates a variety of techniques. Through discussions of anatomy, ways to capture texture and particularities of form, the author explores facial expressions, and how characteristics come together to capture personality. In this way, she explores particularities of the features of animals so that the portraiture is authentic. She explores features and the proportions of different breeds of animal. The author not only shows how to capture a pet’s personality, through depiction of such aspects of the animal’s persona like texture of fur, she discusses how to portray motion and gait.

The variety of animals featured in these exercises provides scope for wide experimentation. They include dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, squirrels, and ponies. Hodge gives instruction about drawing animals from photographs and then supplies photographic resource material so that the student can practice. She also generously provides small snippets with tips and tricks about a variety of drawing practicalities throughout the pages.

For parents and kids who want to spend some quality time together in a “hands on” art project, why not try something simple and fun like crafting adorable animals from empty walnut shells? Provided the children’s craft box is stocked with a few basics such as colorful pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and tempera paint, this project can be a fun and diverting way for parents and children to spend at least a couple quarters of an hour.

Supplies Needed
• Whole walnuts
• Nutcracker
• Colorful tempera paint
• Medium and small paint brushes
• Colorful pipe cleaners
• Googly eyes
• Quick-drying adhesive such as ceramic or jewelry glue
• Plastic lanyard string
• Scissors

Creating the Animals, Step by Step
Depending on the child’s age and dexterity, adults or kids can gently crack the walnuts into two halves. Remove the nutmeats and set aside to be used for snacking, or in a heart-healthy fruit and nut bar. Walnuts are a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids and plant-based protein. Combined with rolled oats, chopped dates, dried cranberries, and a little brown rice syrup and peanut butter, they add crunch and a delicious nutty flavor to yummy homemade granola.

After spreading a workspace with newspaper or a plastic tablecover, and bedecking the kids with painting smocks, get out the paints, brushes, and palette, and let them go to it with gusto! Don’t forget paper towels for accidental spills and smudges, and a cup of water to rinse brushes between color choices.

After the shell halves dry completely, the fun work of adding ears, eyes, tails, and whiskers can begin. Because of the glue, adults should supervise this process carefully – ensuring that the work area is well-ventilated to prevent the accumulation of any undesirable fumes.

Suggested Animals
• Turtles
• Spiders
• Ladybugs and Beetles
• Mice
• Rabbits
• Crabs
• Snails
• Fish
The variety of animals which can be made is limited only by the imagination, so encourage your child in his creativity and fanciful ideas – even if it means making a “tiger mouse” – and enjoy this quality time spent together. These days won’t last forever.