A to Z Cephalopods: A for Architeuthis (Giant Squid)

© 2013 Sylvia Liu

I've continued to enjoy Alison Hertz's Doodle Day challenge, a Facebook group that posts a prompt every day, and artists and illustrators post a doodle. Some months have been themed, like Animals. This month, the theme is underwater creatures from A to Z. So Dec. 1 is any underwater animals that begins with an A.



I've decided to refine this challenge for myself even further, by limiting my doodles to cephalopods, which are the class of aquatic creatures that are largely composed of head and feet (octopi, nautili, cuttlefish, squid, etc.).

Some fun facts about giant squid:

• Giant squid are rarely seen because they live so deep (1,600-3,300 feet)

• Early sightings of giant squid gave rise to the myth of the kraken

• Giant squids have the largest eyes of any animal (up to 10 inches in diameter)

• The scientific name, Architeuthis Dux, means ruling squid

I doodled this with my new favorite tool: a Pentel Ink Brush Pen. I found out about this from illustrator Maple Lam, who I met at David Diaz's Lost Weeken retreat (which I will blog about shortly).

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:

• Kraken (from last year's Sweet Square's illustration challenge)
• Illustration Friday: Scattered (with information about a prehistoric giant octopus / kraken)
• Crowdsource an Octopus Painting