Florida Softshell

I had the opportunity to sketch from a live model last week.... a female Florida Softshell turtle.

An amazing critter.  The females can grow to 24 3/4 inches long!!  This gal was in a dishpan while I sketched.  Every now and then she'd stretch her neck and look over the side.  I'd gently tap the dishpan with my foot and she'd tuck her neck back in.

My Peterson Field Guide says that the Softshell is the heaviest and bulkiest of all the North American Softshells, but the species with the smallest range.  Here in Beaufort County South Carolina, we are at the top of it's range.  It continues south to include all of Florida and stretches west to Alabama.  Its range is kind of triangle in shape.

I saw my first Softshell about a year ago. A delivery man had stopped his truck to aid one across the street.  Upon seeing the turtle, I had to pull over, too.  Never before had I seen such a large, strange looking turtle!  He kept trying to pick it up.  The turtle would gather its legs from underneath and lunge into the air!  Feisty one!  Well, when I reached down and gently stroke my model's shell, the same thing happened..... Okay.  I get it.... Do Not Touch the Carapace of a Softshell :)

Keeping Wildlife in Your Heart...

Seeing your sketch or painting turn into an exhibit panel to help educate children and adults about taking care of wildlife is a magical experience!

You have to use a lot of imagination to envision two separate paintings of disproportional size becoming united into one large image.  That's the fun of working with two additional artists, one that conceives the exhibit panel idea, the other who transforms that vision into the final result.  What a delight for me as an artist!

This has been my recent experience in a joint project with a local nature center.  I created "muddy water" with bubbles (below) on a 22 x 30 sheet of watercolor paper and a more detailed rendition of a red-eared slider (above) for an exhibit panel designed to help educate children and adults about respecting wildlife and the need to keep the wild in their habitat--to hold them in your heart and not take them home.

For example, did you know that wild animals rarely survive when returned to the wild?  We have native red-eared sliders in Tennessee and it is illegal to possess a native wild species in our state.  Why?  Because the removal of a wild animal not only threatens the species but disrupts the delicate ecosystem.  Additionally, non-native red-eared sliders released in Tennessee do not know how to survive in a strange environment and can spread disease to native species.  These and other important facts are the messages displayed in the new exhibit panel at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, TN.

Another one of the joys of sketching nature--being able to give something back!

To see more about this exhibit panel and how it was made visit:  Keeping the Wild in Your Heart at Vickie's Sketchbook

Links and resources:
Video about buying wild turtles
Ijams Nature Center
Red-eared sliders

Tank Mates

On the spot but inside for this sketch.
A baby American Alligator taking advantage of Chicken Turtle tank mates.




I added a bit of color today.... 

More here.