Holed up in their old decrepit warehouses and factories, away from the prying eyes of humans, they pondered. If there was one question that had plagued the race of Rugrats since the beginning of recorded history, it was this: "What do we call our young?" Given that the term "rugrat" colloquially referred to children in general, this was quite a conundrum. Plrato, Socratties, Democrattus, Aristratle- all had failed to shed light on this most perplexing of problems. The answer hovered out of reach even to the present day. In modern times, "flannelrats" or "tea-towelrats" were popular choices, while naughty children were often referred to as "snotty hankyrats".

Acrylic on illustration board, 50 x 40.5 cm.

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First day of winter! I love winter. Anyway, I think this possibly represents the first star billing of a washing machine in fantasy art. I was originally going to make the rats have "ruffled" edges between the front and hindlimbs, but at the scale I painted them (although this is a decent-sized painting, the rats are still pretty small) their markings were too convoluted along the folds to be seen clearly. If I ever paint more rugrats, I'll paint them bigger in the picture and make their flanks folded like a rug.

Note: If you'd like to see a bigger version than the preview, but don't want to load the large full-view file here, there's a ~175 KB version (869 x 700 pixls) at my website: [link]