Welcome to week four of my folkloric aventure around the world, this week I’m exploring the rich myths of Albania. Or actually what wiki and the web in general says about this country in Southeastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula.
Among the many traditions, myths and other folklore of this country, the Divs caught my attention, which although they appear to have originated in a neighboring larger region, represent a type of evil giant. I guess today, I don’t know… Maybe you could even take a selfie if you happen to be in the right place.
Don’t forget to come back next Sunday to see a new doodle, this new cycle is just starting, I’m 48 Sundays away from my goal and your visit will give me encouragement to move forward.
Welcome to the third Sunday of my Sketchbook, this week our journey through world folklore will take us to Belgium. I have heard that Belgians are very proud of how they cook potatoes.
But since this year of sketches isn’t about food (maybe next year), today’s illo is about those creatures that might be hiding in your garden.
A look of desire, a sigh of passion… This week’s creature comes from the time of the Roman Empire, it has captivated our imagination for centuries, and has even remained an influence on the screens as it was for Disney’s 1940 Fantasiaand Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 Pan’s Labyrinth.
Yup, I’m talking about fauns, along with satyrs (the greek origin), they have popularly been associated with lovers of wine, music, dancing, and women.
A Fail in Concept
We are just in week 2 and I ran into trouble with my concept for these series. Obviously the ancient roman empire did not used iso codes, I found that ZZ is used for unknown or unspecified countries, so my solution for this week was the first zz hahaha. There so many good ones in places that no longer exist as country that it would be a little difficult not to repeat Zz.
After a pause to rest, to think about what else I could do besides bugs, and to have a lot of originals on paper. This cycle will visit 52 countries, to bring crumbs of their folklore as weekly illustrations. I have added a little explanation of the elements on each illo here along with my motivation.
As you might imagine for the hint above, this week myth comes from Japan. It’s inspired by the Japanese believe that objects can also adquiere spirits. One in particular, the Chōchin’obake, a lantern with spirit.
I posted the paper draft a long time ago on Tumblr, all the upcoming creatures are there or will be soon. But you may want to stay on this blog to see the digital versions arrive little by little without spoilers 😉
What a journey this has been. In September 2022 I started drawing insects as a way to relax and clear my mind from daily work. After a few weeks doing it, I decided to make my life more complicated and make digital variants of those paper sketches.
Here I’m, a year later, finishing this crazy project idea that I got into just for fun. I really enjoyed it, although I had some moments when it was difficult for me to fulfill my self-imposed commitment, I managed to do it without missing a single Sunday. It also happened to me that some weekends I was not satisfied with the things I was doing, but I feel that my illustration technique improved.
It’s funny that in this season those of us who are where the weather is cold would like to go where it is warm, and those who are there would like to come here… How strange are we, aren’t we?
Anyway, if you are on your way to the beach like many of my friends in Costa Rica will be doing right now, don’t forget your umbrella, there are chances of bugs in the forecast.
From the original that is on the last page of my Sunday drawing notebook posted to the Tumblr in September 2023.
After a year of doing this I also learned that even if I have the conviction to commit to something like this, the time it requires is a huge chunk of my little free time. I may have to redistribute my time to prioritize other things of value in my life and you probably won’t hear from me for some time.
I want to close this project by saying that I invite you to explore what you like even if you are not good at them as is my case here. Have fun, enjoy and don’t forget to see the little things around your life.
Since I was a child, space has fascinated me, I’m a big NASA fan, in fact on my backpack I have a patch sewn with the NASA logo and my keychain is from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum featuring an astronaut with the phrase “I need my space”.
Today’s bug is about space again. An alternative way of launching astronauts out to space to be more accurate.
A nonsense inspired by the flea doodle from last September. In fact, the penultimate one of them I’ll do completing a year of bugs.
In this world there are two kinds of people, there are those who love to buy shoes and all the rest of us. Imagine serving this very particular client, already convinced that he has found what he needs… and suddenly someone arrives with a new idea:
Two weeks ago I was in the Thanksgiving Day parade here in NYC. The truth is, those activities with marching bands, giant balloons and so much joy in the atmosphere excite me a lot… Autumn and xmas are my favourite time of the year. So why no a bug parade for this week?
This week’s stick insect came from this paper original from a few months ago:
The bug of this week is a golden tortoise beetle, kind of a weird one an a little difficult to do on paper as you can notice below when I first tried a few months ago:
I guess the most important thing for these buddies when the reach the pits is the antenna stretching. A kind of a Thai massage but for beetles. Then, they will run faster… I guess.
I hope you’re having a great weekend, enjoy the little sillinesses in life. And before you leave, remember to come back next week for another dose of silly bugs!
We are almost there… just 5 more of these to make a year of posting silliness non stop… I truly promise to stop bugging you soon!
Sometimes you just need to stretch your neck and look up. That’s what our bug of this week does when isn’t fighting other weevils with its funny-looking loooong neck.
I have this recurring dream where I can fly. I can see the mountains from above and fly for long distances, but over time I descend little by little, maybe because I run out of fairy dust or something, I don’t know…
Our bug this week is none other than the famous Tinkerbella Nana (that’s her real scientific name, by the way), perhaps she is the source of that fairy dust that I fall short of when sleeping, so here you have a portrait from one of my dreams, ready to takeoff?
OK, so, here we go:
Here’s a selection of a few details of today’s dreams composition:
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. See you next week and remember to replenish your fairy dust pantry before going to sleep.
It was also fun because I decided to set the stage for a special that I will always love, no matter how much it has or hasn’t changed. Hopefully some friends will notice it if they come to my blog.
So, you know. Be a good boy too, help the giant spiders cross the street if you see one in your way.
I hope you have a good weekend, and I’ll see you next week.
You know that knee-jerk reaction we all have when we try to see something but you’re not sure if it’s what you believe or not? …Like when you see an abstract painting by a painter that’s a little “extravagant”.
Nothing infringes more respect that taking your saddleback caterpillar for a ride in the park. I mean, those buddies are scary, I would never get in their way, would you?
A quick parenthesis here. Due to the uncertainty with Twitter X, I’m moving my content to alternative networks. Like Mastodon, Tumblr, Instagram or Linkedin. So, if you have an account on any of those networks and are like me slowing down on X, see you there!
Anyway, back to the bug world… Imagine taking your caterpillar for a walk on a sunny afternoon along the park trails, no matter what or who is next to you… you will look simply stunning, everyone will make room for you to move.
Now that’s riding in style in the park!
Well, that’s it for this week, I hope to see you again next weekend with a new silly bug joke!
But before you go… I have some news for you. I’m about to close my cycle of bug drawings. I still have a few weeks of digital versions left to complete a year of doing this every Sunday. I think I’ll look for another theme or a different exercise but I must say that I really enjoyed this crazy idea.
If you want to see what’s next here, you can visit me there for a sneak peek. This has been a fun personal project, I really enjoyed it and I hope the next one that replaces this one will be better.
Summer is now behind us, and little by little the leaves of the trees will begin to reveal the secrets that the foliage disguises. Wanna to know what’s behind the leaves?
The Rosy Maple Moth [Dryocampa rubicunda] ranges from 3-4 cm length so isn’t bigger than a finger nail, as it’s name suggests, this little pink North American moth loves maple leaves 🍁 #bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/Lh7mCDSOVq
It turns out that the rosy maple moths have a whole complex to trade precious maple syrup. –Who would have imagined it?
If you are in the northern hemisphere like me, I hope you are enjoying the pleasant temperatures these days and maybe even the stunning colors of the trees.
This week turned out to be a bit stressful. Just yesterday I ended up with a contracture in my back because of the stress, so I can’t stop thinking about what the bugs do if they have to go to the chiropractor.
Today’s bug turned out to be perfect for the visit to the chiropractor. Especially if you are giant and need an expert for each leg haha.
Japanese {mosquito-like} Crane Fly -Holorussia Mikado, can grow up to 11 cm (+4 in), bigger than the palm of your hand🖐️ Fun fact: The word mosquito comes from Spanish, it’s derived from “mosca” + the diminutive "ito", meaning something like “small male fly” #bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/trqcj8Fpmq
I remember one time I visited a masseuse for stress in Hong Kong, I had never visited one of those experts, he was an old man who treated me in the newsroom, when I left the session I was even more stressed, everything hurt on my back. I think I discovered bones that I didn’t know I had.
Maybe that was the mosquito’s impression of the day today after finishing the session with six chiropractors.
As you may know, I’m originally from Costa Rica. My little cozy country loves nature, in fact we love it so much that our passports feature species that can be found in Costa Rica, one of them the Morpho butterfly.
Due to the nanostructures in their wings, Morpho butterflies appear to change from a bright electric blue to purple/green. Fun fact, in Costa Rica they are a national emblem and appear in our passports 🇨🇷❤️🦋 #bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/DCZL2abdbo
What you should know is that Disney got it all wrong, they created a fantasy of fairies that paint and set ready the butterflies for spring. As you can imagine, that’s really unlikely. If you ever go to a forest in Costa Rica, maybe you can find the truth behind that blatant Disney lie…
Every one knows that fairies have a butterfly garage. Morpho colors are due to their anatomy rather than painting.
So don’t let them catch you for a fool! Know you know how it works… You’re welcome!
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s silly bug prank. This space is for fun and nonsense, but maybe I should make it clear that I mix some reality in these things. The wings of the Morpho butterflies aren’t blue, in fact they are brown and we see them that way because of the angle in which we observe them. If you’ve been to Costa Rica before you know what I’m talking about. Also true I have one of these butterflies in my passport. 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, full of butterflies! And don’t forget to comeback next week for the bug of the week.
Ants are amazing bugs don’t you think? Their physical abilities are legendary, if they were our size it would be like seeing them use their superpowers.
Bulldog ants can jump about 7x their body length. For a human that would be equivalent to a 14m jump, 5m more than the Olympic record stablished by Bob Beamon (8.9m) 🏃♂️ 🐜 #bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/F2ugB6O3Ai
Although on second thought, if they lived among us, the recruit’s ceremonies of the university faculties would be really wild. Leap over a 50-foot-long cocoa pit might be an easy task for new ants in the faculty, but for average Andy…
After swimming in the cocoa for a while, Andy was able to join the Formica at Coetus. He’s now a proud member of the faculty known for those sweet, sweet college parties.
Dancing is a social skill that not many of us have crafted nicely. When I was in high school, my parents set me up to dancing lessons. I went because a girlfriend I had was in that class, and of course after realizing that I had two left feet and stomping on her a couple of times, she gave up on me.
The wandering violin mantis [Gongylus Gongylodes] has an ear-like organ on its thorax (like most of the mantis). With it they can hear ultrasonic frequencies that allow them to perceive bat noises. Quite useful ability to escape from predators. #bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/g74rICpnvs
Now imagine the social pressure that the violin mantis can feel at his prom.
How about you? Do you have social dance skills or more than 2 legs? Maybe I would be a mantis with 4 left legs… what a disaster!
BTW, if you saw last week bug (week 33), you might noticed I named the band “Joe and the Heimlichs” well, there’s a fun reason behind. Heimlich is one of the characters of the movie Bug’s life. The voice of Heimlich is played by Joe Ranft. It seemed to me a very appropriate name for a bug band.
Anyway, have a great weekend, a see you in a few days with more silly stuff.
Music is something that we humans are proud to be able to enjoy. We love how the vibration of the patterns makes our brain enter joy, meditation or euphoria.
Google this: "Termites rock music" –A 1968 study in Florida suggested that when termites are exposed to rock music, they eat faster. The effect also causes the workers to drop everything and just eat, endangering the colony due to their neglected duties 🤘🎵 #Bugoftheweekpic.twitter.com/5yyoP2eDww
I think any band would be lucky to have a fella like the one below, with that energy that can’t stop when listening to music… Let’s rock this party with Joe and the Heimlichs.
Joe and the Heimlichs are currently planing to do a new version of Woodstock, it might happen, who knows.
What do you say… would you go see them play one of their classics?
Have fun and enjoy your Sunday. See you next week with one more silly joke about bugs.
I can imagine this buddy is the soul of the party, or maybe not quite…
The Boatmen has perfected this trick all his life, so, you shouldn’t try it at home. Unless that… you know… you can breathe in alternative ways down there.
I hope you have enjoyed this week silly joke about bugs. Step by the next week for an other weird bug idea. I’ll be posting a silly joke that includes a Rock Star!… yup I’m going musical next week.
Sunday Sketchbook 