Animal Advent Calendar - 1st Advent

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For a long time I wanted to learn how to draw animals, but since there are so many different groups coming with different forms, it was challenging to pin down what animal actually to draw when you have your sketchbook and pencil in front of you.

So I decided to pick an animal for each letter of the alphabet and post the sketches on each day of December leading up to and going over till the end of Christmas. The alphabet has 26 letters, no kidding, which falls perfectly in place with the end of Christmas on the 26th. My own animal advent calendar. For me, and also for you.

Starting with …

A for Axolotl


The Axolotl is a extraordinary amphibian, home to only a few lakes in Mexico. This narrow distribution makes them a critically endangered animal, and although a lot of individuals are held in aquariums and zoos all over the world, their numbers in their natural habitat are shrinking. 

They undergo different stages of development like frogs, but they will stay in their juvenile phase when a certain iodine in their environment is missing. See it as adult tadpoles.
In nature their colour is between grey and brown, but for the pet trade they were breed to look pinkish. Surely that's the colour you have in mind when thinking of an Axolotl.

These animals have a real super power, they can regrow their limbs in case they get injured, making them interesting for science research, though at the current state we understand little how these animals manage to do that.

The Axolotl is deeply rooted in the Mexican culture, named after the Aztec fire god Xolotl, who transform himself into one of these salamanders. They even face the 50 peso note for a few years now. This societal awareness drives further conservation efforts to retain the animal in their natural habitat.

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I'll be back next Sunday with the batch of sketches from the coming week. For daily posts you can follow https://www.instagram.com/andi_pasti_art/ on Instagram.

Stay curious,

Andi Pasti


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