Egrets at the Wetlands Institute, NJ

From my New Jersery Trip. This is at the Wetlands Institute. Lots of Egrets this year.

A Snowy Egret with his "yellow galoshes".

Birding: American Oystercatchers

Just got back from my week at the beach. We saw a lot more American Oystercatchers this year. Now I know where to look for them. Here are a couple of them at a tidal pool. They really stand out in the mixed flocks of shorebirds.

American Oystercatchers
Stone Harbor, NJ

American Oystercatcher - shore bird art

I guess this illustration might be coming a bit late in the year, but I'm just getting in the mood for the beach. I'm taking a late summer vacation at the beach in a few weeks. I love going to the shore late in the summer. It's a nice time of year there and there are a lot of neat birds around. I always get in the mood to go birding when I am out there.
This is a illustration I finished up yesterday of an American Oystercatcher. It is a larger shorebird and has a bright orange beak and eye ring. I drew this one at the shore line with starfish and sea urchins, where you often see them wading for oysters and mussels and such.

The inspiration for the illustration. A tidal marsh at Stone Harbor where I've seen Oystercatchers, Herons, Terns, Sandpipers, Plovers, and other shorebirds.

A mixed flock of different Terns and shorebirds.
I haven't done much bird watching this year. Can't wait to get out the binoculars and leave for the shore!

As usual, you can find prints in the shop:
American Oystercatcher 5x7 Print

Starfish watercolor

Just a fun starfish illustration.

Original starfish illustration watercolor and gouache. 2012 

Weekend

I made a trip out to the Chesapeake yesterday and had a nice time looking for shark teeth. I found my first Megalodon tooth! It's small for a Meg tooth, about 1.5" - but still one of the larger teeth I've found.

Also finished this watercolor of jingle shells. It's a pretty loose watercolor and meant to be sort of a representational abstract. Not sure how many people know of this shell, but there are common on the New Jersey beaches. They are also known as saddle oysters, but we've always called them jingles - referring to the sound they make clinking together.

Still lifes and new landscape watercolor

Some recent watercolors. Little objects are very fun to paint.

 Also finished this miniature landscape this weekend. Measures 7 x 2½". This is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Maine.

 

Sandpipers watercolor illustration

New watercolor illustration in the shop!
Available as a print too.

Process of a custom watercolor illustration

This is a recent 11x14" watercolor commission I finished. The client wanted a night scene, with a lighthouse, whale, moon, and other fun sea creatures.

Preliminary sketch of idea. Sea creatures include octopus, fish, anemones, and starfish.

After feedback from client, some fun improvements include a baby whale and the light beam from lighthouse.



Illustration is started. Design is lightly drawn in pencil and then inked.
Drawn on 300lb., hot press watercolor paper, which is a heavy weight paper with a relatively smooth surface. India ink is used because it is waterproof, doesn't smudge, and doesn't fade.


First inking completed.

The first layers of watercolor.

First layer of sky painted. Additional layers added on waves.

Sky almost complete after 4 layers of watercolor.

Animals, seaweed and other details painted (my favorite part). Water painted with 3-4 more thin layers. Large rock added on coast to address a slightly awkward empty area.

Many lines are reinked at this point to sharpen and darken after the watercolor, additional bubbles and other details added. Some lines are thickened as well to give a sense of depth.
Sent to client for feedback.

Finished painting. Give the full view a look!

Clients only wish was to change the stripes in the lighthouse to red. This can be tricky and involves scrubbing out the watercolor and repainting. But I think it was a big improvement and added some needed color in the top half.
Final touches include more texture in the water, detail in the house, and some more small stars.

Ocean and Seashore Illustrated Alphabet

Here is the finished alphabet!

In my shop as an 8x10" Print.
Large 11x14" print will be available soon!

Ocean Alphabet

B, C, and D

Ocean ABCs

A couple more from my alphabet illustration.

Ocean Alphabet

Almost finished with a new project. It's an illustrated alphabet of the ocean. Here's a little preview of E, F, and G.

Vacation

I just got back from my vacation at the beach in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Saw lots of cool birds, animals, and plants and took hundreds of pictures.

A Black-crowned Night Heron.
Happened to have my camera when I saw this guy early in the morning.

I like this lucky shot of some shorebirds flying off.

A Turnstone. Didn't notice it was banded until I looked through the pictures. I think this has become one of my favorite shorebirds.

I managed to get this painted while I was away too. This small horseshoe crab had really interesting color variation in it's shell.

Beach combing and Manta Ray Illustration

Here's a little illustration i managed to finish the other day. I like the variety of little things in this one.


Also went beach combing today and picked up a few things to paint.

Yesterday I went fossil hunting/beach combing. Found some decent sea glass and my first not broken crocodile tooth (bottom center) - a little small, but still very cool! Found a fair amount of shark teeth also but nothing especially big. Saw a few snakes and a TINY baby snapping turtle the size of a beetle. Also managed to stop the beginnings of a forest fire from someones poorly disposed of camp fire.