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Purchase
Description
“Right Whale” by Peter Parnall
Limited Edition Signed Print: AP 30/35
Published in 1979 SOLD OUT EDITION
Image Size: 22”w x 14.5”h
Selling Price: $150.00
Artist’s Comments: The Right Whale, an exceptionally gentle and playful whale, was hunted almost to extinction during the high whaling days. Fortunately, over 40 years ago its dwindling numbers were recognized and it became a protected species. Though its numbers have not increased to any extent, the population seems to be holding its own. These whales have thickened skin called "callosities" on which parasites live, creating lumps of various sizes. No two whales have similar skin patterns, so individuals may be easily identified and their behavior studied. They also have a V-shaped spout due to two blowholes, and may be distinguished from other types of whales by their Exhalations. A large, extremely bulky whale, the Right nevertheless jumps and cavorts like its slimmer cousins. One nifty thing it does, apparently in play, is to submerge slightly, raise its giant flukes in the manner of a sail, and let the wind push it along. Guess that would have to be a pretty stout wind! I don't know why I do it so often, but whenever I am dealing with a picture of an Endangered species, I always manage to get a young one in there. Gives me a little optimism.
About the Artist: Peter Parnall became interested in the land and its creatures as a boy. His early memories are of stagecoach stops in the Mojave Desert and Texas’ Big Bend country. Here wild things are children’s playmates – coyotes, lizards. Peter and his friends exchanged rattlesnake rattles instead of baseball cards. Parnall’s special fascination is with animal behavior. He has raised and studied dozens of wild creatures – hawks, owls, and raccoons. And so it is that his drawings portray not only the look of bird or beast, but the animal’s essential nature – shy, bold, predatory, secretive.
Peter Parnall has illustrated over 50 books, some of which he has also authored, and has won many awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. His drawings are described as striking, stunning, attention riveting. Their special nature resides in the artist’s uncanny ability to portray the forest world as the birds and animals themselves might experience it. The viewer suddenly knows how it feels to be a hunter, how it feels to be hunted, and is led into a deeper understanding of the inexorable world of nature.
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