mammothomnibus

It would seem the mammoths of this Island haven't had it easy.

Across the vast tundra, mammoths communicate by picking up underground signals with their sensitive feet. I experimented with a few different styles before settling on grayscale with the little sound ripples. Silverhair isn't seeing Owlheart with her eyes after all but feeling the shape of her via vibrations.

Mammoths have poor eyesight and Silverhair hasn't seen these creatures before, so she's extra confused.

And here's Silverhair in all her glory!

She was so named for the startling patch of white on her forehead. Most mammoth names reflect a deeper characteristic of their holder: like her smell, taste, noise, or personality. I'm afraid there will be no mammoths named Sue or Jane in this story... But maybe something else?

Owlheart is another member of Silverhair's herd we'll meet in a few weeks - the matriarch!

With modern day elephant's the other females comprising a herd are usually the matriarch's daughters and their offspring. The males are more solitary in nature but sometimes associate with other bulls in a bachelor herd. The mammoths in this story are modeled the same way but we'll see how their unique circumstances have forced them to adapt.

Side note, I had a lot of fun painting the little flowers in this tundra! It's depicting early spring. We only have a few patches of melting snow this far south on the Island.

Page 1 is here! Now we're really rocking and rolling~ What do you think Silverhair is looking at out there? I'll tell you that Kilukpuk is the mother of matriarchs and deity to them all.

This scene was originally a two page spread but I cut it down to one to help the pacing. We'll come back to the coast later in the story anyway!

"Silverhair! Last back as usual. By Kilukpuk's mite-ridden left ear, I swear you're more Bull then Cow." - Eggtusk

Cover art! Wow, I feel so official <3

What better place to start than the beginning? I'm curious how many people have ever read the book this is adapted from. There's definitely an easy Easter egg here for anyone who has!

But this was a lot of fun to paint - I love space and stars! I started with a red and purple watercolor wash, added black ink, panicked, and adjusted the mid tones with gouache. I used a mangled toothbrush for the star splatter.