The idea for this painting came after a trip to Sea World's penguin exhibit. I had a chance to watch and photograph the king penguins for hours as they interacted with each other. Once they hit the water, they became animated little torpedoes following each other, changing direction on a dime and causing tremendous excitement and movement. I noticed that once one penguin dove into the water, three or four more would follow. In the wild, there is always safety in numbers, and speed is their only protection. An encounter with the slow and gentle humpback would only be a mountain to swim over on their way to their next destination. I found that the contrast in size, speed and agility presented me with a challenge that I could not pass up as a painting. - Linda Thompson