Design Inspiration Day - Piggies!

Wooden Noah's Ark Pair of Pigs by Me

 Been contemplating some new piggy-centric designs and as my usual mode of operation I'm looking for inspiration from my book shelf (happily reading instead of working).  Here's some of my favorite pig visuals:


Some are simple pigs.  This image isn't even from the story it's the end paper!

 "Pigs" art by Michael Martchenko"

"It's Bedtime Wibbly Pig" by Mick Inkpen

I love Wibbly. I love Mick Inkpen.  Viva la Pig.


I've got old pigs, or rather, piggies from old books. Usually my vintage 1940's or earlier books make pigs overly realistic and rather ugly but I love these piggies. 

"Plump Piggies" no artist named

 I first saw "Plump Piggies" in a local antique mall with the pages framed beautifully and I wanted to get pregnant and start decorating a nursery.  I can see it now with gray walls, simple white furniture and these accents of pale pink piggyness It's a good thing everyone doesn't pass these images framed so pretty or we would have a huge population explosion. 

"Gerties Not Alone" by Norman Chartier

I found an extremely didactic little gem at the thrift store and though the story is dreck the barnyard art is lovely.  Love this pig. Yes, I cut up the book for my notebook.

The best pigs ever though, are the piggy world of  "Toot & Puddle" books.

"Toot & Puddle" by Holly Hobbie

Ms Hobbie is the artist that drew the wildly popular little pioneer girls of the same name in the 1970's.  Her story goes that she was under contract and had to produce Holly Hobbies long after she became sick of them.  She vowed to never draw or paint anything she didn't want to and when finally free she set to raising a family and painting just for herself.  Fast forward, one of her daughters was in graduate school and contracted cancer. The treatments made her loose her hair, made her skin pink and swollen so that she would refer to herself as a "piggy" and sign notes to her family with little pig drawings.  Mom sent her pig sketches in return.  Though her daughter lost her life to the cancer the piggie drawings became Holly Hobbie's ongoing project and turned into the  "Toot & Puddle" series of books.  They show the adventures of two little pigs (I believe they are cousins) that live together but Toot travels the world and Puddle loves to stay at home. 

 "Toot & Puddle" by Holly Hobbie

Don't you want to pinch this piggy bottom?  If I could ever paint light this wonderfully I could die happy.