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 :)

Buggy about Bugs: My First Post

I love to closely examine natural forms. Nature objects, picked up on walks, are scattered about my house. Sometimes I'm moved to draw them. I have followed and admired this blog for quite awhile, enjoying what other nature lover/artists focus on. I am excited to have the opportunity to share my apropos work here.  I post all my work, as it comes forth, here.

I found this bit of wasp nest on a trail that borders the Cedar River, not too far from my house, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA.  It prompted this drawing, done in a collaborative sketchbook for  moly_x_international. It's in Masha Kirikova's, theme book, Those Who Live. Masha (from Moscow) is also a contributor to this blog.

pencil and colored pencil in a Japanese-fold Moleskine

In my basement, I found an old collection of insects my daughter had put in a shadowbox for a junior high school science project. (She's now in her 20s!). It was fascinating to examine what specimens were still intact and to draw them.

watercolor and pencil in pocket-size watercolor Moleskine

Butterflies

Recently I visited this butterflies installation at a modern art museum here in Rome. A small glass house, full of tropical plants and butterflies, it turned out to be the perfect place for a nature sketcher.

Butterflies have beautiful geometric designs, have stunning colours, they build superb chrysalis and stand quite still for long enough periods of time. I used a home made sketching pad with hot pressed Arches paper, graphite pencils, black markers and an small outdoor watercolour set.
























For more info: http://en.macro.roma.museum/mostre_ed_eventi/mostre/are_you_really_sure_that_a_floor_can_t_also_be_a_ceiling