Why octopuses?

People ask me this question a lot, “why octopuses?”

You’d think I would have a good, canned answer by now. But I struggle to express myself every time. It’s so much easier for me to draw something than to form words.

I suppose my love for octopodes started back in my college days when I was doing research for my senior project. I was writing and illustrating a children’s book about animals and how they have emotions and such.

I ended up with several really compelling examples for octopi. One of them was about an octopus that was given a plastic jar. It would push the jar across the tank, making it bounce off the other end and return to it. The octopus would hit the jar over and over, the same way a person might bounce a ball. It was playing!

On top of the fact that they are brilliant, curious creatures with a wicked sense of humor, they are also really fun to draw and paint. I love how their tentacles flow, which goes really well with watercolors as a medium. The suckers are always a big challenge and require a lot of patience. I might take a little pride in the fact that I can get through them all every time I do a new painting!

Lastly, I see them representing me, like a metaphor. I want to be all of those things: curious, smart, colorful, humorous… sounds like someone I want to befriend, eh?

Have a look here to see all of the octopuses I’ve painted.
https://nicolehanusekart.com/product-tag/octopus-print/

PS – you’ll notice I used octopuses, octopodes, and octopi. All three are legitimate and acceptable. Source.