The Friday Rorschach: Henri À Deux

Henri, The Rhino, 2014,  marker on lined paper 

What it is: This is one of my son's drawings. It is a rhinoceros. But, it is not just any rhinoceros. This is a special animal.

His name is Henri. More specifically, his name is The Squishy Pawed Henri.

Henri is my son's favorite stuffed animal. One of our friends bought it for him when he was born, and he has latched onto it for over five years now. He likes it so much that my wife and I bought two extras, just in case we lost one. We cleverly thought we could switch them out one at a time, but our son quickly caught on to the ruse, and he insisted on having all three of them. He did, in fact, lose one (at a zoo, coincidentally), so there are two remaining Henris.

One Henri has one paw that is squishier than the other. Hence the name.

My son did not know why Henri was flexing his muscles in the drawing, or why he was frowning.

The two extant Henris. I'm not sure, but I think the
one on the left is the one with the squishy paw.

What you thought it was:

a few of you thought it might be a cow:

@mwachtel a cow flexing his biceps
— kathleen cohn (@topazkat) January 31, 2014

Several others stretched a little and came up with other animals:

@mwachtel How my cat looks every day. #fridayrorschach
— Leanne Milliman (@librarian5280) January 31, 2014

@mwachtel a mouse...#FridayRorschach
— Jalrattan (@jkam12) January 31, 2014

@mwachtel Front "feet" like a cow. Rear legs like an elephant. Head like some sort of bug. And the 'x' in the crotch? Not sure!
— Beardsworth (@CO_contraband) January 31, 2014

Most of you thought it was a rhino:

@mwachtel Biped rhino.
— Michael Cumpton (@mccumpton) January 31, 2014

Some you you picked up on the muscles:

@mwachtel A very strong hippo.
— YC Psychology (@ycpsych) January 31, 2014

Some of you noticed the frown:

@mwachtel a strong but unhappy rhinoceros #FridayRorschach
— Broken (@ShufangSays) January 31, 2014

A lot of you picked up on movement and action in the drawing:

@mwachtel It's a distressed rhino trying to get out of it's enclosure. #FridayRorschach
— A isfor Amber (@aisforamber) January 31, 2014

@mwachtel It looks all the world like a rearing rhinoceros, to me.
— OldRogue (@OldRogue) January 31, 2014

@mwachtel Rhino's have learned to walk, poachers watch out
— Justin Shinohara (@JustinShinohara) January 31, 2014

.@mwachtel A RiNo wiping out on this morning's ice.
— Larimer Liar (@LarimerLiar) January 31, 2014

A few of you incorporated pop culture into your responses:

@mwachtel If that's not Ghatanothoa I'll eat my hat. #stillreadingtoomuchLovecraft
— Bret Higgins (@DeadBeatBert) January 31, 2014

@mwachtel What is Tintin wearing? A turtle cloth?
— çiğdem çelikel (@drcigdemcelikel) January 31, 2014

Only one person used the lines in the paper in his response:

@mwachtel The Mighty Pinstripe Rhino #FridayRorschach
— Matt Richie (@REALMattRichie) January 31, 2014

And, my personal favorite:

@mwachtel The Broncos winning the Super Bowl.
— Marcelo Duran (@guyincognito) January 31, 2014

What you might have missed: My son's drawing was actually one part of a set of two drawings.

What do you think the differences are between the two drawings? Would your response have been different if I had used the other one in my original tweet?

To me, the two next to each other look like Peyton Manning getting ready to throw a touchdown pass to Wes Welker.

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.
www.maxwachtel.com
www.twitter.com/mwachtel
www.facebook.com/drmaxwachtel
www.youtube.com/drmaxwachtel

Friday Rorschach is a fun project designed to engage readers' creativity. To participate, follow Max on twitter. He posts the drawing every Friday morning around 10am ET/8am MT. There are no wrong answers to the Friday Rorschach.

Posted in: #kiddrawing,Friday Rorschach