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Tricolored Heron
Acrylic, 18” x 24”I’ve finally got this one back from the printer’s so here’s a professional scan! Now, to varnish it… and as every artist knows, that’s incredibly nerve-wracking!
I would like to offer giclée prints at some point, although with moving this weekend it’ll have to wait a bit. I am trying to decide whether to do the original 18”x24” for about $100, or make them smaller and more affordable 9”x12” prints for about $30 each. If you would be interested in either one, please let me know so I can gauge interest!
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Scientists nearly double the number of biogeographic realms | mongabay.com
In 1876, British biologist Alfred Russell Wallace published a map of the world that outlined how related animals were spread over the Earth. For example, Wallace was the first to publicize that North American biodiversity was substantially different from South America, and that an invisible line separated Southeast Asian biodiversity from that of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands. With Wallace’s research came the founding of biogeography, or the study of species in relation to geography. Today, scientists with the University of Copenhagen have updated Wallace’s map—nearly doubling the number of biogeographic realms—with support from data on over 21,000 species….
With vast amounts of data, including DNA sequencing, the scientists have created new biogeographic realms, such as the island of Madagascar which is home to lemurs, tenrecs, mini-chameleons, and slew of other bizarre species. Still, much of Wallace’s original map survives, such as the split between North and South America, and the line—known as Wallace’s Line—separating Southeast Asia and Australia. However, the new study also splits Australia from New Guinea, creating a new biogeographic realm known as Oceania which includes New Guinea and other islands across the Pacific….
The map utilizes known data from 6,110 amphibians, 10,074 birds and 4,853 terrestrial mammals.
The new map is on top, and Wallace’s map is on the bottom.
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Bringing Extinct Birds Back to Life, One Cartoon at a Time
Filmmaker Ceri Levy was working on a documentary called The Bird Effect, about how our feathered friends influence our lives, when he took on a side project, organizing an exhibition, “Ghosts of Gone Birds,” at the Rochelle School in London in November 2011.
“Its purpose was to highlight the risk of extinction that is faced by many bird species in the world today,” Levy noted. “The premise of the show was to get artists to represent an extinct species of birds, and to breathe life back into it.”
Levy sent a list of nearly 200 extinct bird species to famous artists, musicians, writers and poets, inviting them to create bird-centric pieces. A cut of the profits from the sale of the artwork would go to BirdLife International’s Preventing Extinctions Programme, which aims to protect 197 critically endangered bird species.
Acclaimed poet and novelist (also, environmental activist) Margaret Atwood knitted a Great auk—a large flightless seabird last seen off of Newfoundland in 1852. Sir Peter Blake, a British pop artist who famously designed the cover of the Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, submitted a collage, titled “Dead as a Dodo,” which consists of a long list of extinct and endangered birds. But the most prolific contributor by far was Ralph Steadman. The British cartoonist, who illustrated the 1967 edition of Alice in Wonderland and Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, painted more than 100 colorful and sometimes silly birds—or “boids,” as he called them in emails to Levy. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.
Illustrations by Ralph Steadman
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Posted on December 27, 2012 via R L G with 47 notes
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For illustration we needed to do a scientific illustration of one of the taxidermy animals in the ROOM OF DEATH at my college. I choose to go to the most terrifying corner of the room (where there are like 30 deer-like animals just judging you) to get a picture of a ram to do the illustration. We had to do the illustration by stippling.
Done with Micron pen size 01.
P.S. The room of death is actually a small natural history museum worth $3 Million. From what I remember, most of the money went back to wildlife funds.
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Tricolored Heron
Completed - 24 hours, 15 minutes
Acrylic, 18” x 24”I FINALLY finished this! It took a lot of tries to get the feathers just right, but the extra time was well worth it! This is just a quick photo, but once I get another piece or two done I’ll get into the printers to get them scanned properly. I’m hoping to submit this piece to some juried exhibitions, so keep your fingers crossed for me!
This painting is based off a photo that I took at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, FL. I can’t recommend that place enough to all the nature lovers out there! Some of the most amazing bird life in the country, and so easy to get close to them. Plus beautiful scenery. Do yourself a favor and get out there!
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Sketch I did a while ago of a kingfisher - Alcedo atthis - using a BIC.
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Beetles Invasion: One Artist’s Take on the Insect
Perched on a stool in her studio in northwest Washington, D.C., artist Joan Danziger pages through the book Living Jewels. “This one influenced me,” she says, pointing to Phaedimus jagori, a green-and-gold beetle from the Philippines. The book contains flattering portraits of beetles taken by photographer Poul Beckmann. “See this one?” Danziger asks, showing me a yellow-and-black striped beetle from Mexico called Gymnetis stellata. “It became the ‘Tiger Beetle’ up there.” - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.
Photos by: Poul Beckmann / Courtesy of Joan Danziger
Ed note: Here are the country’s most dangerous beetles.
