Hop, Throttle, Soar: Adam's Picture

This illustration is a very special piece that I was honored to be asked to do because it's for a four year old boy named Adam Grover.  Adam's two favorite things in the world are frogs and the Blue Thunder Monster Truck.  Adam was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy Complexes I & IV on June 4th 2008.  This mitochondrial disease affects the mitochondria of the cells, which harness energy for the body.  The disease leaves him very tired, among other symptoms, that get in the way of living life as four year old boy who wants to play and go to school.  It ultimately leads to fatality, and there is no cure.  There are certain kinds of vitamins that can possibly help to treat this disease, but insurance does not cover them.  Here's a picture of Adam and his Blue Thunder toy:

This piece is going to be presented to Adam at his Make A Wish party this spring, where Blue Thunder and its driver will be present.  I am beyond touched and grateful at being able to participate in this celebration of Adam.  To find out more about Adam and/or to find out how donate to his fund to help contribute to medical costs, please click here.

The challenge for this picture was to come up with a way to integrate the frogs and the Blue Thunder Monster Truck into an image together so that it made sense.  I wanted to draw tree frogs because I think they are simultaneously beautiful and odd looking animals.  I love their bright green color and their contrasting bright red eyes.  Their bodies are a lot like rubber humans, which make them fun to draw.  I thought the best way to overcome the size difference between small frogs and a huge truck was to show the frogs in the foreground, and Blue Thunder behind them.  Because these frogs live in the rain forest, I thought it would be great to showcase the truck ramping off of the rain forest mountainside.  This gave me an excuse to be able to illustrate a lush rain forest aerial landscape shot.  I like these kinds of views because they let me to create the kind of picture where you want to go inside it and explore all the different places in it.  Click on the pictures below to access larger versions.


Blue Thunder Detail:


Frogs on the left detail:


Frogs on the right detail:


11.5 x 7.75 Bristol board.

Pencil, ink, Prismacolor pencil.

©Kevenn T. Smith 2011