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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Sturgeon in Drybrush

A sturgeon drybrush painting for my wife's birthday. Selenium toxicity in sturgeons were the subject of my wife's PHD thesis. It's a really ancient fish, practically a dinosaur, and they can get really huge.  It's both one of the homliest and most difficult animals I've ever drawn, but homely in a kind of fascinating way.


 The hardest thing to draw were those ridges on its side. I just couldn't get them to look right. This was my fifth attempt, and that's a conservative estimate. They're done rather quickly, but to maintain the freshness of the piece, it's better to start new again rather than work it to death. I wanted it to be a scientifically accurate as I could make it, but I'm sure it's still a little off.

Next time I'm drawing our dog. Dogs I can handle. 

3 comments:

  1. If the likeness is off, only another sturgeon would notice. Best Fishes on your wife's birthday.
    Andrew

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  2. Thanks Andrew! Well, I think she might know nearly as well as a fish--she studied them for many many years. But she liked it.

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  3. Well done! Did you ever found a good online giclee printer?

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