Dipped on roseate terns this evening but man was the sunset worth it

plein air drawing on the top of a mountain is always fun

This sperm whale art just got nixed at work and won't be going to final, so I can share the sketch. Axed for being "too cute," RIP. 🥲 #sciart 🦑

A fun little exercise: trying to digitally draw as if I was doing a #linocut. Barnacles and seaweed are such wonderful textures, they make a good subject for (fake) printmaking. 🦑🐡

Oh hey, it's #PortfolioDay. I'm a natural science illustrator and exhibit graphic designer, with a special love for #birdart. Most of my work these days is for various park exhibits, but I'm always open to #sciart projects! 🌿🪶

No black-billed cuckoo, alas, but still a nice morning bird walk before it heats up today.

see a crab, post a crab! 🦀 (unfortunately, an invasive asian shore crab)

Life pie today! I went for a hike, not intending to bird, and stumbled upon a tree full of red crossbills (finally!). I didn’t have my camera, so you’ll just have to trust me that they’re in that tree…about 1 pixel tall.

man I love #pleinair drawing season ☀️

new frontiers in #linocut: I am attempting visual textures. I’ve sworn to start NO reduction prints until I nail ink laydown and precision and paper choice in a single-color print. it’s… a learning process 😅 #printmaking #birdart 🪶

Reminds me of this classic:

For my lovely wife, who tramped through a marsh with me today looking for a king rail, despite it being 44°F and blowing rain. We did not find the rail, but we sure did find deer ticks. 🥲 🪶

I got some very pleasant birding done last week. I ran away to the cape and saw a TON of spring migrants, lugged too many optics all the way to race point, watched the gannets diving, spotted a lifer iceland gull, flipped over a trapped horseshoe crab, and helped a painted turtle cross the road.

Something that really frustrates me about a certain type of new birder is the terminally engineer-brained "I have encountered something I do not understand. Clearly this is a tech problem external to me, how do I apply a tech solution?" mindset. 🪶

it looks like spring in my sketchbook even if it doesn’t feel like spring outside #naturejournaling #naturejournal #botanicalillustration #sciart

More printmaking up next. After a lot of playing with EZcut I wanted to do something more detailed, but man do these cheapo speedball carving tools not make it easy. 😵‍💫 I’m dreaming of pfeil…… #printmaking #linocut #botanicalartist

Seeing pronghorns again was really cool. We got a much closer look from the road, but my camera was in the trunk at the time (lesson learned! lap camera!). I'm okay with the distant landscape shot though. It better captures the memory of watching them picking their way cautiously through the grass.

Editing photos from Arizona today to distract myself from the blizzard 🥲. A Coati and a pair of Inca Doves (showing off those pretty rufous primaries) from sunrise at Madera Canyon. 🪶 #wildlifephotography

An unfinished page but getting to see a female Costa’s feeding her fledgling was SO cool. The baby was such a cute little fluffball sitting patiently on a twig, waiting for mom to come back with breakfast. 🥹 #birdart 🪶 #sciart #naturejournal

Some Arizona birding trip sketchbook pages. I’m trying to get into a daily sketchbook habit- drawing more being less worried about making each one perfect. 🪶 #birdart #sciart #naturejournal

Last day, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum and Saguaro Ntl Park. Two more new species, rounding us out to 36 lifers for me and a trip list of 101 species recorded. Not bad! (Pretty great, actually)

indoor day today since we did not come equipped with rainwear, but I still managed to find birds in the Tucson art museum.

34 lifers in five days, one a self-found rarity. 😎 Up before dawn each day, with 6+ hours of birding daily. I think… I think I may actually need a break from birding.

no pretty scenic pics today because I was blissfully unplugged while birding (someone else was keeping the ebird list so my phone got left in the car, lol), but the trip is looking pretty damn good so far. also, dogshit pic of a gambel’s quail out the car window. my camera was in the trunk 😭

Madera canyon birding was as phenomenal as advertised, even in the ‘off’ season (no such thing)

arizona is very beautiful and we have seen MANY birds and photographed… a few of them. (but I have taken about a million pics of plants for inat.)

It’s been in the teens or below for weeks now, and the birds have been mostly puffed up and miserably huddled (when I’ve braved a -15 windchill to try to find them), but tomorrow we are going to AZ for a week of birding. I’m more hype for above freezing temps than I am for lifers.

Got some good art time today! Lichen sketch at a #naturejournaling workshop by Mass Audubon, and then first try printing with my new little hand press. I have mixed feelings about easycut material (as opposed to traditional #linocut) but perhaps I need to adjust my expectations. #sciart #birdart

Boy, it sure is.

Addendum to my previous post: also don’t do this shit: “Hey, I choose to leave food outdoors for wildlife but I don’t like which animals are eating it. How do I exercise control over the natural world so that I only get the cute animals instead of the species I find personally annoying.” 🪶