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Last week was certainly a busy one! I have been working on many different science illustration projects for different clients, while also updating my shop, negotiating new projects, and some boring stuff like accounting. Here are a few of the ongoing projects in the studio: Lake Tanganyika CichlidsI continue to make progress on painting all of the cichlid species of Lake Tanganyika. Last week, I focused my efforts on the Trematocara genus, finishing three new illustrations. Here is a little animation to see how a fish gets painted:  Manta and Devil RaysThere will be ten species of mobulid (manta and devil ray) rays to paint for this project. Last week, I finished up all of the sketches and this week I will be painting some of them! I’m really excited about this project. I started my career as a marine biologist and I have always wanted to see a manta ray. Someday!  New Mushroom ProjectI have just started working with a new client in France to produce two mushroom playing card decks for edible species of Europe and North America! This is going to be so much fun. Some of the cards will have species I’ve already painted for Mushroom Guide App, but there will also be a ton of new paintings, and I’m going to have a lot of fun learning about European species and some new North American species as well. I will share more about this project once it gets under way!  You're My HoneyI loved making punny holiday mushroom cards and couldn’t resist making one for Valentine’s Day. Mushrooms just lend themselves to punning so perfectly. You can find this You’re My Honey card, featuring a romantic pair of honey mushrooms, in my shop here: www.lifesciencestudios.etsy.com 
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 This year, I will be adding a lot more products to my Etsy shop, and I can't wait for you all to see what I have in the pipeline! This week, I added my very popular Edible Mushrooms design to my favorite women's T-shirt. I have done a bunch of testing, and have decided this shirt is by far the best women's fit and gives a more feminine look than the men's cut. The Edible Mushrooms design includes five of my favorite wild edible species: oyster mushroom, morel, porcini, shaggy mane, and chanterelle. Each mushroom was painted using watercolors and then printed using Direct To Garment (DTG) printing technique, which is clear and durable, and doesn't peel over time.  Also new in my shop: Rainbow Mushroom Shirts! This design was a suggestion from my good friend, Rani Davidson, and I just love it. I got to see her over the holidays, and she was kind enough to model some of my designs for me, including the one she came up with! Keep an eye on Instagram for more photos of my favorite new model, and follow her @the_rani_d to see her hilarious stand-up.  I also have prints of my watercolor paintings up for sale. The prints come in 5x7" or 8.5x11", matted, and signed.  Click the button below to visit the shop. And stay tuned for new stuff!
We took a trip to see my in-laws in Tucson over Christmas and New Years. The desert there is truly spectacular, and I always am amazed by the diversity of cacti and birds that live here. Whenever we visit, we make sure to get out and hike. This time, I brought my sketchbook. Many of the sketches I filled in with color and detail at the dining room table, as I’m sure other nature journalists will relate. It’s hard to spend enough time on one subject when the family is off to the next thing! My strategy, which I learned from the wonderful John Muir Laws, is to sketch everything very roughly in non photo blue pencil first, in order to get the general shapes right. I then go back over with graphite and finally watercolor. The non photo blue pencil is a color that cannot be detected by copiers. This means nothing for sketching because I won't be using a copier, but there is something about using a light blue pencil that is very freeing and allows you to sketch without feeling like you need to erase all of the wrong marks. It is also easily hidden by the watercolor paints.    We also took a trip to one of my favorite places: the Sonoran Desert Museum. This living museum is a wonderful place to discover the local wildlife and plants. The raptor show, in particular, is really awesome. Owls swoop over your head and Harris hawks team up to demonstrate a hunt during the show. The birds are way too fast for me to sketch, so I sketched a toad instead. You can see some of the blue pencil marks that I later adjusted, but never erased.  |
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