Studio Tuesday Blog

This is my take on the classic illustrated whale poster. A selection of whales and other small cetaceans drawn in my simplified illustration style. Labeled with common names in handwritten text.

This is an illustration i drew in 2012 of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay. This is one of my personal favorites. Probably because I have a soft spot for the Bay from growing up and living in Maryland. But I also had a lot of fun drawing the angles and odd architecture. This is a screwpile lighthouse and is one of several that were built in the Chesapeake.
The scene also includes a low summer sun, sailboats in the distant water, and just a few of the animals found in the bay - gulls, jellyfish and of course a blue crab. Soft teal and purplish hues contrast with the scarlet roof of the lighthouse.



Above, an 11x14" framed print. I had this one hanging in my boy's nursery for a while. I like a thin black frame for this one because it complements the black inked lines. White frames always look good as well for a bright, clean look.

Prints in various sizes are available in the shop here:
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Print

Just restocked the shop with some fun magnet sets! I have a few different sets that include birds, whales, arctic animals, owls, and puffins! Top image is my coastal birds set (terns, sandpipers, pelicans, and puffins).

A set of arctic animals - polar bear, arctic fox, snowy owl, and weasel.

I collaborate with iPop to make these magnets featuring my illustrations. We select artwork for various themes - each set contains 4 little round magnets (1 inch) and comes in a handsome clear case. 

Arctic whales magnet set, which include belugas, narwhals, an orca, and a whale tail.

The magnets are super strong and great for hanging things on the fridge! They make a satisfying loud click as they snap to surfaces - hence the name magnet clicks!

A cute Owls Magnet Set featuring illustrations from my 100 owls project. The magnets are topped with a glass dome, which you can see a bit better in this shot.



You can view and buy the sets from the Magnet section of my shop. Stay tuned for more!

Narwhal Basics

Narwhals are a type of whale, most closely related to belugas. They live in the Arctic by the ice cap and sea ice, and are one of the few whale species that live year round there. You are probably already aware of their unique feature, a single spiraled tusk that sticks out of the front of their head (like a unicorn!). Narwhals are a bit of a mystery to us - they spend most of their time under sea ice, making them a little hard to study and observe.
Below are some fun narwhal facts (for kids or you kids at heart!) illustrated with some of my drawings and doodles.

Top image: 3 narwhals swimming under sea ice in the Arctic. Watercolor and India Ink.

What's in a name?

The word Narwhal has its origins in Old Norse and Scandinavian languages. The Old Norse word nāhvalr is translated as corpse whale, named because the coloring of narwhals reminded sailors of a drowned body. Creepy!

The Inuit word for Narwhal is a little more poetic; Qilalugaq gernertaq is translated as “the one point to the sky". Named for the behavior of pointing their tusks towards the sky as they come up for air at holes in the polar ice pack.



Their scientific name, Monodon monceros, is Greek in origin. It means one-tooth one-horn (unicorn).

Fun Narwhal facts

Narwhals change colors as they age. Babies are a blueish grey. Juveniles are a darker blueish black. As they become adults their skin changes to a blotchy gray. As they age they become lighter and older narwhals are almost completely white.


Narwhals can live to around 50 years old.

Narwhals live in pods, usually a group of 20 or less narwhals. However during summer migration these pods come together and form "super pods" which can contain hundreds or even over a thousand narwhals.

Narwhals eat shrimp, squid, and fish such as halibut and cod.

Narwhals are very vocal, they communicate with clicks, squeals, and other noises - similar to dolphins.

The Narwhal's "Horn"

The Narwhal's tusk is actually a tooth that grows out of the jaw and through the upper lip. It grows in a spiral and can reach almost 9 feet.

Male narwhals have tusks. The occasional female will have a tusk, but most don't.

Occasionally a male narwhal will have 2 tusks.

Whats are the narwhal's tusk for? It's a bit of a mystery, but it is probably used to attract mates and possibly to sometimes to fight over mates. The tusk also contains nerve endings which can help the narwhal sense things about its surroundings. The narwhal's tusk probably has multiple purposes.


Sources: World Wildlife Fund, WWF Canada, Encyclopedia of Life, National Marine Mammal Labratory - NOAA, Encyclopedia Britannica, The American Society of Mammalogists, Merriam-Webster


Read More Illustrated Animal Facts

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In the Shop

Another illustration for my dinosaur series. This one is a Triceratops in a rocky landscape scene with a red sun, sparse conifers and a couple flying Pterosaurs in the distant sky.

Several months ago Melissa from the Fawn Over Baby blog wrote about her baby boy's new Alaskan inspired nursery. Take a look! It's quite a handsome little room and I'm flattered to have a piece of artwork included. I created a custom vertical version of my Arctic alphabet print for her (now available as a print option in my shop). Below are a couple pictures of the nursery and framed print.


My Arctic alphabet print, in the vertical format, 11x14". Photo by Fawn Over Baby


Another photo of her Alaskan nursery. Photo by Fawn Over Baby


You can find 11x14" and 13x19" prints of my Arctic alphabet in my shop here: Illustrated Arctic Alphabet Print



I'm building up a pretty good collection of Arctic animal illustrations as well. Orcas, narwhals, polar bears, foxes, snowy owls, weasels and more! I love drawing snow and ice so it's one of my favorite habitats to illustrate. Check them all out in my Arctic collection.

I'm very excited about these new enamel pins I just had made! This is my first pin design and I'm quite happy with how they turned out. Its a white snowy owl, made from my original drawing. They are now available in the shop here on my website: Snowy Owl Enamel Pin

Another new illustration in my dinosaur series. This one is a colorful Stegosaurus in a Jurassic landscape drawn in whimsical black lines. Other details include an orange sun, a fallen log at the water's edge, conifers, and more Stegosaurus in the distance.





Above is a 11x14" Print, now available in the shop, along with some other sizes. Link below!
Stegosaurus Art Print

 

A new illustration in my dinosaur series is finished! A Diplodocus, a Sauropod from the Jurassic period, surrounded by pines and conifers. I'm pushing my use of color a bit in this series and I'm liking the mix of greens with the soft dusky purple sky in this piece - a color combination I haven't used often.



Although these illustrations are very stylized and simple, I am doing a bit of research beforehand on their anatomy and behavior. I think this helps with drawing something that isn't generic.
I'm also having fun imagining and drawing the Prehistoric landscapes for these dinosaurs to live in. Lots of ferns and conifers!


Above, an example of a framed 8x10" print, available in other sizes as well!
You can find them in the shop here:
Cute Sauropods Art Print

New Otter Art Print

My newest illustration is of a swimming River Otter, an animal I especially love. The Weasel family, which includes otters, have been a favorite of mine since learning about them in elementary school.
This was made from a doodle i drew last October. The illustration features a Otter floating in a river and includes an underwater dimension, a stone lined river bank, icicles, and falling snow.

Sometimes these drawings seem to take a lot of work, studying the animals and figuring out how to convey them in simple lines and shapes. Sometimes it takes multiple sketches, altering and redoing drawings (this Pine Marten comes to mind) and sometimes, like this otter, they come together easily in one quick go.

I have prints up in the shop, which you can find here: River Otter Art Print

 

Favorite Otter Art

While I'm on the subject I thought I'd talk about some of the otter art I enjoy. Below are a few of my favorites. Included are different otter species, and a range of styles from different artists.

Charley Harper's "Otterly Delicious" features a sea otter painted in his distinctive geometric, graphic style. The otter is floating on it's back, an arm wrapped around a piece of kelp, and chewing on a sand dollar. On it's belly are some other favorite sea otter foods: an orange star fish and sea urchin. This piece is pretty typical of his work, which illustrated wild animals and their behavior, often in interesting and/or humorous ways.
Like many others, I'm quite fond of the unique way he simplified animals and the natural world, especially the sea urchin in this piece. I think this is such a clever way of depicting a difficult subject. The pattern is interesting, fun, and immediately recognizable.

  

Above, Tom Frost's otter stamp screen print. Part of his series of birds and animals of the British Isles, in stamp form! A fun use of geometric pattern and shapes. This is the Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra, which swims in both fresh and salt water and is found throughout Europe and Asia. The otter mug, shown on the right, is available here.







The gestural ink drawing of the otter above is by Sophie Neville. This and her other sketches are drawn from observation of otters she and her family raises. Her drawings capture the otters in their distinctive poses and movements. Its fairly evident from these drawings she's spent a good deal of time observing them and learning about their anatomy. She has some interesting notes on drawing such a tricky subject on her blog, and I would recommend checking it out. You can find the article here.



"Drawing otters is tricky, firstly because they don't stay still for a moment and secondly because our tame otters are so affectionate and inquisitive that they continually want to see what you are doing. The paw prints on the sketch above are not made with paint but with mud from a wet creature who would have made the paper all soggy, given half a chance"

Above, a little excerpt from Sophie's impressions of drawing otters and the muddy sketch she refers to. You can read more about the otters she raises here (one of her otters painted and had an exhibition!).

A little post on salamanders just because they are fun, I love finding them out in nature, and love drawing and painting them. Top image, a little watercolor of a Northern Red Salamander I painted.


The illustration includes a Marbled Salamander, Tiger Salamander, Green Salamander, Northern Red Salamander, Red-spotted Newt, Red Eft, Dusky Salamander, Spotted Salamander, and a Redback Salamander.


You can find prints in my shop here: Salamanders Art Print

I have a friend who works at the World Wildlife Federation that requested a Pangolin for World Pangolin Day. So here is a sketch of a Pangolin with a clinging baby on it's back. They are scaled mammals that are threatened / endangered due to habitat loss and heavy poaching.
I had fun drawing this weird but cute animal. Some more Pangolin facts: they feed on termites and ants and roll into a ball when in danger.