"Leaping Lizard" by Richard F. Yates

[Digital drawing. 2020.]

Mariah says this looks like a lizard in the middle of a half-gainer. (Ha!) I love it. I'm not exactly sure what's happening here because I usually draw in an automatic mode. My hand just starts moving...or in this case, my finger, because it was drawn on my phone, which has a tiny screen...and I see after a few strokes if what I've drawn looks like anything, and I try to punch up whatever is suggested by the swooping marks into a full drawing! (Planning...psshht... That's for snooty art snobs! I'm channeling Miro! We FREESTYLE when we create! Yeah, baby...)

My favorite part of this beastie is the face. Those eyes look scared or freaked out or something to me, and that makes it look funny. Perhaps he's not JUMPING, maybe he's been THROWN in the air by some evil kid, and the look on his face is the clue that it's not a controlled flip... I don't know. We might NEVER know...

Or maybe I'll write this lizard's story someday and explain what's actually happening---but what if you people don't believe me when I write that story? Thanks. You don't trust me anymore!

Figures... You people just need to calm down and ROLL with it... Like this lizard. He's just rolling with it... (He'll be fine...)

---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)