‘Woonkee DiWoonkee’. Pencil drawing by Koldo Barroso, 2009
He was standing alone at the front door of the Girardi’s house, sleeping inside a little basket with a little handwritten tag that said: “Woonkee DiWoonkee”. And he was the cutest baby they had ever seen. The Girardi family, who had no children nor pets, were very glad to adopt him, despite the fact that they didn’t know the origin of this adorable mysterious creature. They didn’t know what kind of pet he was, they didn’t know how to pamper him and they didn’t know how to feed him!
The years went by and Woonkee DiWoonkee turned into a little gentleman. The Girardis still didn’t have a clue about what kind of creature he was, but he knew how to write, he could speak fluent French, he knew all about social etiquette and politeness, and he was also the cutest pet in the neighborhood. There was just one thing about Woonkee DiWoonkee: He ate faerie’s wings.
To be continued…
- This Signed 50 Limited Print is now available at the Store.
With this first post for June at the Character Workshop, a new giveaway starts today until the end of this month. Tomorrow I will announced the winner of May’s giveway. Remember that new characters are posted every Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Love his sense of style
Hi Bryan! He’s a little dandy, he likes to attract young naive fairies and when they’re all trustful then he catch them with his hat…
Your artwork is wonderful by the way!
Everyone around should check out Brian’s whimsical & surrealist art!
oh, but that’s not very gentlemanly! :O
uh…how long have you had the star vote thing? I just now noticed it…my bad.
He’s very cute, but I think I like more complex characters on the whole.
Isn’t always the cute ones that have a bad habit or three…. This story can go on many different tangents – my mind has gone in twenty directions already.
Aiyana hasn’t seen this one yet, but we’ll let you know.
Sue, the vote poll has been there since the beginning of the Character Workshop. Maybe I should find a way to make it more noticeable…
Carolyn, I’m really looking forward to hear what Aiyana has to say. I love to see your head going in so many directions! My wife has been inquiring me about the rest of the story today during the whole launch. I told her she just needs to wait. She was going to a with a few “directions” too, but the secret stays with me…
Woonkee DiWoonkee has fabulous ears. While I was looking at him, I imagined his ears leaving his head in the night while he was sleeping (that is assuming he sleeps in the night) and having adventures of their own…
I have great empathy for the character up until learning that he eats faerie’s wings! But I am definitely wondering why he eat’s fairy’s wings and why he hasn’t realised this huge error in social ettiquette
I am charmed by your idea for the creature workshop and found your blog through the Folk and Fairy blog.
nice feeling
He certainly is a smart little chap isn’t he?! I wonder what happens to the rest of the Fairy once he has eaten their wings?
Jesse: maybe his ears can fly with the fairies and become friends so they can find a solution together!
Welcome to the Character Workshop, Cath!
Nobody really knows why he needs to eat fairy’s wings to survive, the Girardis tried to feed him with all sorts of food and he would refuse everything. One night they figured out he was surviving from eating the wings. Maybe is the magic dust whatever has all the proteine & vitamines! After all, it’s not Woonkee DiWoonkee’s fault since he needs it to survive.
Sarah, that’s something an expert in fairies such as Brian Froud should answer, maybe I should look up in his books… I’m not a fairy expert like him but I presume it all has to do with the type of fairy. Any ideas?
Lovely character. I thought that eating fairie’s wings was just a whim until you mentioned in the comments that it was for survival… Hmm… Can fairies grow themselves another pair of wings? If not, what happens to them? If they can, do they lash back on Woonkee DiWoonkee and how well does he takes it?
Hi Yelena, I think is very possible that there are fairies who can grow themselves new wings. The problem is that Woonkee is such a compulsive eater that he would eat the new wings rigth away right before they even flap for the first time… What are we going to do with this boy?
What a lovely fella! A fantastic drawing and oh how I would love to read the rest of the story~
I am quite sure the fairies wings would grow back, over time though. Something as special as the power of flight cannot happen in seconds. I think the fairies would run away and hide, waiting for the wings to grow back and whilst they wait they tell there younglings stories of the naughty Woonkee DiWoonkee and his nasty nip!
Welcome to the Character Workshop Christina! This is a collaborative project where you decide what you want to see so let’s see how many of you would like to hear the rest of the story. Woonkee says thanks to you!
Welcome to the Character Workshop Sarah, Mistress of the Burlesque Mirrors House!
You have a point there, if they spread the word about what kind of fellow Woonkee is maybe they won’t dare to deal with him any more. But once again, he’s so charm and politeness is so irresistible that is hard to believe such a gentleman hides a monster inside.
Oooo! The poor fairies would try their best to stay away from Woonkeand spread the word about his eating habits, but would fall for his charm time and again – drama! I would love to see how this story continues…
Erm… I accidentally did something to Woonkee’s name and can’t edit it. Sorry, Woonkee, didn’t mean any offense!
It seems to me, Yelena, we all have sometime in our life felt charmed by the wrong person. There’s so many “wing eaters” in this world… as I always tell to Naomi, there’s such not bad people and good people in the world. There’s people potentially dangerous and non-dangerous for each one of us. We have to learn to be careful about whow and how we deal with, what do you think?
BTW, this little gentleman says you can call him Woonkeand or whatever you want just because you’re such a nice girl. He’s asking me if you have wings…
I am leery of the whole bad/good concept. Good for whom? Bad under which circumstances? It all does not make much sense to me. I prefer harmful/safe and their equivalents. That leaves emotional judgment out of it and leaves us with a more practical criteria to go by in everyday affairs
Tell the little gentleman that as a matter of fact I do have wings, but they are of feathery variety, old, and dusty.
Definitly more appealing than any pet in my neighborhood. They don’t eat wings of fairy’s but leave unsolicited “gifts” in the yard. I’m wondering if the Woonkee DiWoonke eats the wings so he can stay the cutest pet. Oh, i have to comment on the drawing, i love the repetition of the curly thingy with the walking staff, tail and wiskers.
Welcome to the Character Workshop, Steven! Thanks for the comments on the drawing but they’re not artistic aesthetics, they’re just part of Woonkee’s Bon Vivant look, it’s just his own thing.