Illustration Friday – “Ferocious”

I DID IT!  FINALLY, I DID IT!  I’ve been telling myself I was going to submit an illustration to the weekly “Illustration Friday” site for a year now!  Every time I set my mind to do it, something else has always pulled me away. But this week I actually did it and I am feeling very accomplished right now! 

The topic this week was “Ferocious”, which is not an easy one for me.  My art, and the topics I’m driven to draw, aren’t ever going to be described or defined as having “ferocious” characteristics, but by chance I got my inspiration while I was helping my husband in the garage.  To my horror we found this critter crawling across the floor and I nearly stepped on him before Mark warned me.  It’s a hideous beast – and quite ferocious in my mind – but in all seriousness, it’s just a Tomato Hornworm.  I’m not sure how he made his way into our garage, since our garden is on the other side of the house, but he did.  

I took some pictures and we moved him to some bushes across the street (I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my tomatoes).  It dawned on me then that he’d make a perfect “ferocious” image for this week’s call-out!  

So, here it is –

My  ”ferocious” Tomato Hornworm with a “face” only a Mother could love.

Click  HERE to learn more about these critters.  The moth they become is pretty amazing – I like that its called a Sphinx or Hawk moth. That’s just cool!  I think I would have rather run across the moth than the caterpillar. I couldn’t find out why these worms have horns, so if anyone out there knows – please tell me!