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Description
Whew! And here we are!

May's gryphons! A little different, huh? ^^ They are common nighthawk/brown bat hybrids, because both are adorable, small, fuzzy, nocturnal, eat bugs, and look like bats. Actually, the nighthawk's common name is "bullbat." Now, since obviously these will be the only gryphons featuring a winged mammal, I decided to go with the bat wings rather than the nighthawk wings--but kept the nifty nighthawk markings in the wings and the tail. Also, both the little bat hindfeet and the little nighthawk forefeet are teeny and kinda useless--I dunno if you can see the forefeet much, but they are there--just small.

Another comment about nighthawks, if you haven't heard of them/seen one--THEY ARE ALL MOUTH. Like, they are Pacman. If you took a pingpong ball and cut it in half, that's a nighthawk's head. They have these teensy little beaks and these gaping maws. This is because they basically fly around all night with their mouths open, hoping bugs will fly in. They also have little whiskers like a cat, to sense prey. D'aww!

I WANT ONE. SRSLY. I thought the concept was weird at first, but as I was coloring them I fell in love. SO LITTLE AND FUZZY EEEEE! I saw some nighthawks flying around the clock tower at my college last fall when out doing astronomy work, and thought they were really neat. And I've always liked bats (we are fellow creatures of the night, ohyes). So the connection was pretty natural.

As for the background...I was originally just planning to do a basic "night sky," but one night last month (when I was planning these guys but hadn't started yet) something changed my ideas. It was the time of year for fireflies; we always get a couple near my house, but usually not too many. And it had been very hot and muggy. So anywho, I looked out the window and saw some REALLY IMPRESSIVE heat lightning way off in the distance. There was a good wind and the whole night was this bright green color, and so were all the clouds. AND THE FIREFLIES WERE GOING NUTS. INSANE. You know how when you blink a flashlight at fireflies, sometimes they blink back? It was like that TIMES A BILLION. I think they thought the lightning was like the mother of all fireflies. The Firefly Overlord. Quetzalcoleoptera. imageeksrry

So. Anywho. It was really amazing; the color and the wind and the fireflies EVERYWHERE...I can't really explain it. And of course I knew immediately what I had to do for this background. I don't really think I did that night justice here, but oh well I tried. Also, all the moths are based on real species--I just don't remember what they are!

So...I guess I'm happy with this one. Bathawks in Faber-Castell colored pencil, tower in Portfolio oil pastel, clouds in India ink and painted-on pastel (very weird...), and finally fireflies in acrylic because I didn't know what else to use! And I nearly had a panic attack becaue I couldn't find my white gel pen yesterday, but then I found it in a bird book I was using for marking refs. Ahahahaha...uh...

My fav is the little one diving with its mouth open.

And no, these don't have names. It's "Five-For-Secrets" for a reason, ok?

Enjoy!

Other Calendar Gryphs:
Jan: One-For-Silence
Feb: Two-For-Hope
Mar: Three-For-Solitude
Apr: Four-For-Survival
Jun: Six-For-Beauty
July: Seven-For-Joy
Aug: Eight-For-Duty

Description
Whew! And here we are!

May's gryphons! A little different, huh? ^^ They are common nighthawk/brown bat hybrids, because both are adorable, small, fuzzy, nocturnal, eat bugs, and look like bats. Actually, the nighthawk's common name is "bullbat." Now, since obviously these will be the only gryphons featuring a winged mammal, I decided to go with the bat wings rather than the nighthawk wings--but kept the nifty nighthawk markings in the wings and the tail. Also, both the little bat hindfeet and the little nighthawk forefeet are teeny and kinda useless--I dunno if you can see the forefeet much, but they are there--just small.

Another comment about nighthawks, if you haven't heard of them/seen one--THEY ARE ALL MOUTH. Like, they are Pacman. If you took a pingpong ball and cut it in half, that's a nighthawk's head. They have these teensy little beaks and these gaping maws. This is because they basically fly around all night with their mouths open, hoping bugs will fly in. They also have little whiskers like a cat, to sense prey. D'aww!

I WANT ONE. SRSLY. I thought the concept was weird at first, but as I was coloring them I fell in love. SO LITTLE AND FUZZY EEEEE! I saw some nighthawks flying around the clock tower at my college last fall when out doing astronomy work, and thought they were really neat. And I've always liked bats (we are fellow creatures of the night, ohyes). So the connection was pretty natural.

As for the background...I was originally just planning to do a basic "night sky," but one night last month (when I was planning these guys but hadn't started yet) something changed my ideas. It was the time of year for fireflies; we always get a couple near my house, but usually not too many. And it had been very hot and muggy. So anywho, I looked out the window and saw some REALLY IMPRESSIVE heat lightning way off in the distance. There was a good wind and the whole night was this bright green color, and so were all the clouds. AND THE FIREFLIES WERE GOING NUTS. INSANE. You know how when you blink a flashlight at fireflies, sometimes they blink back? It was like that TIMES A BILLION. I think they thought the lightning was like the mother of all fireflies. The Firefly Overlord. Quetzalcoleoptera. imageeksrry

So. Anywho. It was really amazing; the color and the wind and the fireflies EVERYWHERE...I can't really explain it. And of course I knew immediately what I had to do for this background. I don't really think I did that night justice here, but oh well I tried. Also, all the moths are based on real species--I just don't remember what they are!

So...I guess I'm happy with this one. Bathawks in Faber-Castell colored pencil, tower in Portfolio oil pastel, clouds in India ink and painted-on pastel (very weird...), and finally fireflies in acrylic because I didn't know what else to use! And I nearly had a panic attack becaue I couldn't find my white gel pen yesterday, but then I found it in a bird book I was using for marking refs. Ahahahaha...uh...

My fav is the little one diving with its mouth open.

And no, these don't have names. It's "Five-For-Secrets" for a reason, ok?

Enjoy!

Other Calendar Gryphs:
Jan: One-For-Silence
Feb: Two-For-Hope
Mar: Three-For-Solitude
Apr: Four-For-Survival
Jun: Six-For-Beauty
July: Seven-For-Joy
Aug: Eight-For-Duty