Throwback Thursday!? Now, a lot of marine artists have a blue crab... and this one is mine! I painted Crabby in watercolor, finished with itty bitty detail brushes back in 2013. While I've been drawing/painting since childhood, this was one of the first paintings in my official collection when I resolved to start taking this whole "Amber Marine, artist" thing seriously. I illustrated this with only one of my own photos as a model. I draw freehand and prefer to create my paintings without a lot of referencing, so as per my usual modus operandi, there is artistic license and anatomical incorrectness that makes my Crabby unique. (I also feel like Crabby somehow has a facial expression and t
Newly finished! "Rare Cetaceans" painted in watercolor and ink. (My husband gave me a water brush and this was my first time using it, I love it!) In this piece I've illustrated some of the rarest dolphins and porpoises in the world, five critically endangered, and one functionally extinct species. Prints and cute things are available 🐬 here! 🐬 (Purchases support my work, and make great conversation pieces! ♥) I will be making an 11x14 first edition of giclée prints of this piece: 25 artist's proofs, signed and numbered in watercolor paint. Cetacean species in the art, in order: (Conservation resources below) • Vaquita Porpoise (critically endangered, Gulf of California - fewer than 30
"Treacherous Waters" Back in 2015, heartbroken over the near extinction of the vaquita, I created several pieces of vaquita art in an attempt to help raise awareness. I had hopes of helping people empathize with this rare, beautiful, disappearing cetacean through visual connection. There are no existing photos of the vaquita alive and underwater, so I painted my digital piece "Treacherous Waters" to place the viewer in the realm of a vaquita mother and calf, as they swim by a derelict gill net grasping up from the depths. I drew my vaquitas freehand and had to imagine much, due to the lack of photos of these animals. Currently, there are less than 30 vaquitas left alive. (2018 update - less
