Asparagus in pen and ink

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is early.  Since asparagus is pretty much without question the earliest vegetable growing around here (unless rhubarb counts as a vegetable?  It's used more as a fruit, but really there's nothing fruity about the part that's used), I figured it was time for an asparagus study.

Turned out to be more interesting than a person might think, actually.  Like a lot of plants, asparagus has a very distinct spiral growth pattern.  It's kind of fun to trace the spiral paths of the... um... scales?  Leaflets?  Hey, I'm a zoologist.  I'm not exactly up on my asparagus terminology.  Anyway, the whole thing twists as it grows, which appeals to my pattern-freak side quite nicely.

My father's asparagus patch is an interesting jungle of last year's leftover stems, since he rarely uses them.  It must make it a challenge for the new growth to find space to force its way up, but it obviously still manages.

In case anyone wonders, my model was very tasty...

Wilson in pen and ink

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is fearless.  I'm hoping to sit down and do something specifically for the word, but at the moment my neck's out and sitting to doodle isn't the most comfortable prospect.  So, just in case I don't get to it later in the week, here's a page from my sketchbook from a few days ago.  Wilson was (well, is.  Unless he's been eaten by something.  It happens) a squirrel hanging out at the nature centre where I work.  If you want to know why Wilson is a fit for fearless (and, for that matter, why Wilson is Wilson) and aren't scared of left-handed penmanship, click on the photo to enlarge it.

Chrysalis in pen and ink

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is cocoon.  I'm afraid it didn't do much for me.  Wrong season, I think.  If it was summer I'd be all over butterflies or moths (erm, so to speak), and if it was winter I'd be all for cocooning in a warm quilt.  As it is, though... well, here's a sketchbook page just to keep me from getting lazy about IF.