Penguins

African Penguins Make a Trek, Acrylic, 11 x 14 inches, 2007

Penguin Painter, Acrylic, 11 x 14 inches, 2007

Penguins, in addition to being endearing and cute, are the most human-like of birds, and, therefore, candidates for anthropomorphic depiction.   Desirous of painting them, but thinking I couldn't make a realistic composition interesting enough, I hit upon the idea of doing a series of whimsical pictures with various types of penguins doing human things.  The result was African Penguins Make a Trek, in which a family of African, or Jackass penguins seek new habitat on the coast of South Africa, where, for various reasons, they are endangered.  In a second picture, Penguin Painter, a King penguin, the largest, save for the Emperor penguin, takes time off from fishing and diving off the coast of Antarctica to try his hand at painting.  In the pictures I add a few accoutrements and articles of apparel to make the penguins more human and I make the assumption that they can use their wings like arms and hands.   This is another idea I'd like to get back to, as there are plenty more ideas for penguin pictures.  

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