La Patita

A mother’s love is immense

All Mexican kids of my age and one and a half generations ago grew up listening to Cri Cri, a singer-songwriter who crafted children’s songs in the 1960’s with topics ranging from wonderful imaginative worlds to everyday life, and creating vivid characters through his storytelling.

I fondly remember many of his songs, specially the one about the three pigs who dreamed away, but the most shocking song I heard was “La Patita” a catchy song about a mother duck whose ducklings are hungry, so she goes to the market in her shawl and basket to try and bargain deals for food, yet, everything is too expensive and she only has a few cents with her, as her husband won’t provide for his family, so she returns home empty-handed, telling her ducklings to eat mosquitoes.

I hated how sad and impotent this song made me feel, so I decided to reimagine this character as an independent, successful mother with the means to provide for her ducklings on her own.

What would happen if she wore her shawl (ironically, a traditional item usually gifted as a wedding gift from the groom to the bride) with a golden pin, a cute hat, and a basket full of rhubarb to make a delicious pie? I know that ducks don’t eat rhubarb, and please do not feed rhubarb to ducks! But it is one spring vegetable that is very present here in Canada and represents a bounty, and the daffodils at her back, symbolizing a new beginning for this character.

I created a few sketches for this character and the flowers, researched symbolism, and selected a limited color palette to keep practicing working with one.

I hope you like it, and Happy Mother’s Day in Mexico to all hardworking mommas!