Why the Aardvark Has a Long Tongue.

A very, very long time ago, before humans destroyed the delicate balance of the Earth, there were many astounding biological innovations we can only imagine today.  One such innovator was the dandelion flower which grew its own spigot so that all the creatures of the forest could enjoy its spirited liquids. (Also dandelions were way bigger.)

The aardvark, a curious creature with claws made for digging and ears made for hearing, was one of the dandelion’s most ardent admirers. However, due to his oversized claws, he was unable to manipulate the delicate handles of the spigot. So the Earth did what she did best back then (before corporate “persons” bent her to their will and made her into a grotesque parody of herself). She gave the aardvark a long and agile tongue, well able to bypass the spigot mechanism within and enjoy a bounty of dandelion wine. (The aardvark also used his new tongue to hunt in termite mounds. But that came after, of course.)

This one is starting to look a bit glassy-eyed and might pass out soon. Which is good, otherwise he wouldn’t leave any for the next guy! This illustration was created for the “Drunk” topic at Monday Artday.

And now, a slideshow:

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Hooray for sticking with one color family! I did do a bit of extra correction in paint.NET, particularly closing the mouth partly and cleaning up a few messy spots. Most of the ink was done with a teeny 0.05 Copic multiliner, though I did go back at the very end and thicken some lines with a 0.2. Apparently I am on a bit of a kick with long-snouted creatures. This will come as no surprise to those folks who visited during my “big nose” phase which, now that I think of it, may not have been a phase at all.

If you get a moment, take a peek at Topsy-Turvy Trees, the illustration blog of Nei Hatsumi. I know there are a million art blogs out there, but she’s really great but little known, so I thought I would share. I think sharing contributes to a great community. :)

Thanks for stopping in!

 

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Reference aardvark photo from ARKive. Reference dandelion photo from Paul Franklin.