Day 29: Bald Eagle

"Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes."

E.F. Schumacher

Some facts about the bald eagle:

• Bald eagles fly to an altitude of 10,000 feet. They can reach a speed of 30 to 35 mph.
• Bald eagles have 7,000 feathers.
• Wild bald eagles may live as long as 30 years.
• The bald eagle is a strong swimmer.
• Once paired, bald eagles remain together until one dies.
• The 35 days of incubation duties are shared by males and females.
• The bald eagle became the national emblem in 1782 when the great seal of the United States was adopted.
• The main causes of death include fatal gun shot wounds, electrocution, poisoning, collisions with vehicles, and starvation.
• The bald eagle is the only eagle unique to North America.

Day 28: Witch

"I've always thought Prince Charming in 'Cinderella' was the most boring role; I'd rather be the Wicked Witch."

-Jude Law

To decide what to draw today, I took a quiz that was something along the lines of "which fairytale creature are you?". It told me I'm a witch, so that's what I drew. I'm not sure what that says about my personality (maybe I'm a good witch, like Glinda or Hermione?), but I'm kind of glad because this was fun to draw.

Day 27: Evil Queen

"One bite, and all your dreams will come true."

-The Queen, Snow White

Day 26: Angel

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other."

-Luciano de Crecsenzo

Day 25: Fairy

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

-G. K. Chesterton

This week's theme is fairytale; I figured I should draw at least one fairy... 

Anyways, here are some "facts" that I found online about fairies:

• The best time to sight one is in the "'tween" times (dusk, dawn, autumn, spring)
• Fairies live in places that are not really anything, called shadowlands. This includes places like river banks, a bend in the road, and offshore island.
• Fairies hide themselves from human eyes using glamor.
• Signs that a fairy is near include: sudden cold, unexplained trembling of leaves, a whirlwind or dust devil, or a feeling of something crawling in your hair when there is nothing there.
• Fairies are immortal (although this one confused me- doesn't a fairy die every time a child says they don't believe in them?)
• Fairies love to dance in a circle and use music to lure a human inside. Once inside, escape is impossible unless a human chain is formed to pull them out from the inside. They also sometimes lure humans to their islands from which there is no escape. Those rascally fairies. 

Can you guess what I'll be doing tonight at dusk? 

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Nope, not fairy hunting. Studying for finals. 

And a reminder to all, if you see small, glamorous humans dancing in a circle and love their music so much that you feel the urge to jump right in the middle and boogie...STOP! Think about what you are doing. Unless there is a human chain nearby, in which case, please, enjoy the fairy party.

Day 24: Mermaid

"I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living."

-Anais Nin

Magic 

Sandra's seen a leprechaun,

Eddie Touched a troll,

Laurie danced with witches once,

Charlie found some goblin's gold,

Donald heard a mermaid sing,

Susy spied an elf,

But all the magic I have know

I've had to make myself.

-Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

A few facts about mermaids:

• The first mermaid was actually a mermad, and he was the god Oannes from Babylon.
• A two-tailed mermaid is the basis of the Starbucks logo. It has been edited from the original because some people found it too sexually suggestive.
• It is believed that creatures such as mermaids represented our understanding that humans were one with animals but also different from them. 
• Columbus reported seeing mermaids in his log

Day 23: Allison

"My favorite kind of weather is Halloweentown weather."

-Allison Harvard (Creepychan)

I wanted to do a portrait today, since they're my favorite. When I think of my theme for the week (fairytale), this is the first real person that I think of. She always reminds me of some kind of dark, evil nymph or fairy. Allison is probably one of the most insanely (literally) beautiful people in existence, and has one of the most interesting personalities to match it. She's know on the show for her social awkwardness and her fascination with blood (she says it's pretty). She's so great! And, she's an artist. I've looked at her work, and it's really neat!

Here are some interesting or funny things she's said:

• "I have a really big fascination with blood."
• "Yes, I have big eyes. They're on my face. Sorry, they're not going anywhere."
• "I look like the woodland creature, or something that crawled out of the woods."
• Another model (angrily): You don't want to go there with me!

          Allison: Where am I going?

• "[Another model] makes this speech from the staircase, and it's a bit too, like, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul for me."
• Allison's response to Tyra telling her she used to get nosebleeds all the time as a child: "Jealous!"
• "I'm really interested in hemophilia."
• In high school I was sort of introverted. You know, I didn't really hang out, too much, with people."