A Mole in a Hole

Moles: I like them a lot. Their waffly noses, huge paws and velvety fur have always made me feel warm and fuzzy. My father used to sing “The Mole in a Hole” by The Southlanders to me when I was a child and gave me a small, toy mole with fur as soft as I imagined and hoped their real fur would be. So I thought I’d draw one and here it is:

The final drawing.

Pencil on A5 paper.

Stage one.

The mole with folds of skin wrinkling as he wriggles.

Stage two.

I altered the mole’s body shape because, although the wrinkled skin and the light catching it turning it silvery was true to my source material, it was confusing and distracting.

It’s often a bit of a gamble showing my art to my partner, as kind and as supportive as he is. This time he said, “But will people know that’s a mole?” My initial response (which I kept to myself) was a bit of spluttering then, “But look at those earth-shovelling paws! Could it be anything else??”. Outwardly I said, “Hmm,” and decided to spell it out to the viewer just in case my partner was right.

Hand drawn lettering added.

The lettering style is of my own dreaming with a nod to the Lombardic script for the “M”. I wanted a playful, joyful feel to the lettering and to somehow knit the drawing and lettering to make a “whole”.

Combining design and drawing was a bit of a headache! The lettering and border took as long to draw as the mole itself but I think it was because it wasn’t an intrinsic part of the plan at the beginning.

It was a bit of a rescue job so I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. Would I combine lettering and drawing again? Quite possibly but next time I’d plan it from the beginning.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the inspiration behind this piece.

Warm wishes,

Laura