Mooncalf

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and this piece was created because I was captivated by an unfamiliar word. One day I was reading a book, and one of the characters in it was referred to as a “mooncalf”. I had never heard of the word before, and so I looked it up. Turns out that “mooncalf” is an old, old word dating back to 1614, and generally means “lunatic” or “lovesick” or “daydreamer”. Which sounded interesting. I got to wondering: what does a mooncalf LOOK like? Well, it turns out that nobody’s ever drawn one, so I decided to create my own version. I made the little guy blue as a shout-out to Paul Bunyan’s blue ox, plus, since I’d decided he was the offspring of a certain nursery rhyme character, I created a rhyme for him.

So may I introduce to you...Mooncalf!

By the way, the purple cow at the top of the picture is his mommy.