Blog / 2011 / Your Favorite Kind of Animal

In May, I did a Kickstarter for my upcoming Series X, and as part of the gifts I promised my backers drawings of thier favorite kind of animal. I’ve finally finished the full series.

It’s fascinating how these drawings act as a kind of survey of people’s preferred animals.

Even though it’s not particularly scientific, the results are still interesting.

All in all, cats win out.

Various versions of the domesticated cat are one of the larger groups.

There was just one bobcat request.

But lots of lions.

The maned feline was the favorite species.

It had three separate requests.

And the tiger was one of the handful of animals that got two votes.

I like the expression I managed to capture on this one.

After cats, dogs were the most popular.

So many dogs!

Felines got ten votes total.

Canines received just nine.

But the domesticated dog in all its permutations is more popular than house cats.

In drawing them, I learned about various breeds.

I cheated a little for my mom by doing a portrait of a specific animal, her baby Roo.

Oddly enough, there was a request for a “big black dog” which is shown above as well as one for a “fat black cat”—it’s the one above the bobcat. I guess large monochromatic animals are a thing.

The arctic wolf was the only wild dog to make the canine cut.

Birds were less popular than I thought they’d be.

And the bird choices surprised me.

Only one owl?

Same for roosters.

But there were two ducks.

So I made one a mallard.

Elephants also got two requests.

I did a baby to change things up a bit.

There were two giraffes as well.

And herbivores in general were fairly popular.

Including a moose.

I now know that an impala is a kind of gazelle and that gazelles are small antelope.

I cheated again here by drawing a horse I’d already painted.

The goat’s pupils were interesting to work with.

And I loved the highland cow’s do.

Underwater creatures proved to be tricky.

The weightlessness is difficult to fathom.

Animals like this one were a challenge for me. The elaborate coloring felt restrictive somehow since I couldn’t impose my own rainbow!

I loved capturing the quiet vitality of a snail.

I’m glad the bear got at least one vote: it was my favorite animal for a long time.

And piglets are David’s favorite.

Rabbits got two votes.

That makes sense since 2011 is the year of the rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac.

All in all, doing these drawings was fascinating and fun.

Now I’m ready to buckle down to the serious work of Series X!