Two new painted birds

Carver friend Steve provided me with two new bird painting “assignments.” First was a kingfisher, which had quite a bit of wood patch-work so I decided to paint it completely rather than try to show the wood grain as I did with the owl last summer.

Then a whimbrel. This one had to show the wood grain—it’s such a natural undercurrent for the feather texture!

One more Artober entry

Here’s the last set. As in previous years, this has been challenging, fun, and surprisingly productive—every year, I’ve ended up with at least one or two images that turned into other art projects—from sweatshirt designs to greeting cards. I wonder which of this year’s will inspire a future art piece?

My thanks to the folks at SCBWI and GNSI for creating the prompt lists!

“Whiskered”
“Shell.” These are from one of my favorite clam species… the delightfully wonky (and highly talented) piddock (Zirfea pisbryi )
“Parasites”
Another fun exploration of negative space: “Dolphin” and “Bees”
“Amphora” and “Fall”
“Snake” and “Boo!”

Artober continues

The SCBWI prompt was “Ride,” so of course Banjo Woman was a shoo-in. As for the rest, I’ve been researching dung beetles for a writing project.
“Mushroom.” I loved drawing this one!
“Exoskeleton” made for a cool abstract pattern. It’s a dung beetle, of course.

More artober catch up

“Root”
“Bird” and “Basket.” I want someone to make this!
“Plankton” and “Bat.” Of course.
“Scales.” This is based on electron micrographs of placoid scales.

Catching up on Artober!

“Worm” and “Heart.” This one’s going out to my friend Kim,
who loves her worms…
“Rodent.” I like the negative space!
“Footprint”
“Butterfly” and “Full moon”

Artober part 4

Daily drawings from October 7-10.

“Fossil” (GNSI)— just riffing on an ammonite cross-section.
“Reptile” (GNSI) and “Apples” (SCBWI)—I have never drawn a crocodilian before… so this was particularly fun!
“Bear” (GNSI) and “Black” (SCBWI)
“Costume” (SCBWI)—camouflage is a kind of costume, right?

Artober, part 3

Another day of playing with patterns. The GNSI prompt was “Cell;” the SCBWI prompt was “Fire.” The combination put me in mind of a mitochondrion.
“Bone” (GNSI) and “Crow” (SCBWI)

Artober 2022, part 2

A harvest (SCBWI) of bird skulls (GNSI), ready to pluck.
As with the egg a couple of days ago, I decided to abstract a pattern from its typical enclosing form; this one’s inspired by the enamel on the occlusal surface of a mammoth molar. (GNSI prompt – teeth)

Artober 2022, part 1

Just started a month of daily ink sketches based on prompts from Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I’ve been doing this for the past three years, and I’ve started to look forward to it quite a bit… even though I know I’ll still occasionally experience creativity-freeze, and will still find myself scrawling a few of the dailies at the last minute before bed…

Case in point… Day 1: “Submarine” (GNSI) and “Spider” (SCBWI)
Day 2 is “Egg” (GNSI)

The final owl

I delivered the painted owl to Steve a couple of weeks ago. He perched the bird on a beautiful piece of driftwood…

and then, as a perfect finishing touch, carved and painted a vole in its talons!