Mr. Chinstrap Light

I got to teach an art lesson to some first graders today! They were the kids of one of my library acquaintances, who homeschools; I taught them about shadows, and they paid me in an ice cream sandwich.

She told me they were advanced for their age—which they are, in addition to being absolutely adorable—so I showed them the four elements of shadows (cast shadow, highlight, crest shadow, and reflected light) using an egg. Then, since eggs are kind of boring and penguins are vaguely egg-shaped, I switched to this drawing of a penguin. I think the intent of my lesson was clearer on the egg, but at least the penguin looked cool. 

I drew two versions—one light, one darker—to show them how they can use shadows to affect the environment of their drawings.

Of course, this guy has a semi-story, too. His name is Mr. Chinstrap—because he’s a chinstrap penguin—and he’s a character in a picture book that’s currently floating around in my head. I haven’t defined much about him yet, other than his tendency to wear top hats and to wander into a certain setting that I’ll recycle from The Ragtag Touristers. But that’s OK because I’ve got two novels to finish before I tackle that.