detail from The Familiar Birds, 1921 by Émile Friant

Ok it's time to spill the beans on at least one of the projects started in 2023 that have kept me very busy!

So, finally here's one of the reasons that kept me away from fan arts and commissions on tumblr:

An ancient natural-history museum opened in 1867...

A project that kept me busy for a year and a half...

And soon the finish line of a beautiful work path... 😁

I'll post some photos soon!

Peter Paul Rubens - Medusa (1618)

Medusa, or sometimes referred to as The Head of Medusa is a c.1618 painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, showing the severed head of Medusa. Rubens enlisted the help of Frans Snyders who worked with him multiple times. Snyders was a nature artist and worked with Rubens to paint animals in his pieces, such as the snakes in Medusa. The snakes portrayed are nonvenomous European grass snakes, except for the two snakes on the right side of her head which are vipers. Vipers are a medieval symbol of ungratefulness. In Greek mythology, Medusa is portrayed as having venomous snakes for hair. The vipers are shown mating with the female having the male's head in her mouth. Towards the middle of the painting, an amphisbaena is shown. An amphisbaena is a snake-like creature that has two heads, one on each end of its body, and is noted in classical mythology. Medusa is shown to have just been slain and is laying down in a pool of blood with the snakes and reptiles surrounding her.

Great Indian Fruit Bat

Painting attributed to Bhawani Das (Indian)

ca. 1777-82

This dramatic image is of the great Indian fruit bat (Pteropus giganteus) frontally displayed with one wing out-stretched. The body is shown in considerable detail, with the bat's fur, eyes, curling claws, and wing veins naturalistically articulated. This work is closely related to another image of a bat painted by the well-known artist Bhawani Das, who was trained in Mughal miniature painting and commissioned by Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of Bengal (1774-1782), and his wife, Lady Mary, to make extensive natural history studies at their estate in Calcutta. It was perhaps made by a follower of Bhawani Das who worked in a slightly more naturalistic mode.

"Do you really eat people?"

He stayed silent as she laughed. He could have fled, as his guts screamed him to, but he didn't. He didn't see her as the monster they say she is. She was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

Some more lore on the mermaid story with @koma-etoile . Enjoy the Naturalist and the Giant woman! You can find the mermaid POV here!

It's finally time! I've been excited to post about this FOREVER. Here is the cover for my new memoir about loving nature and struggling with depression. I'm very proud of this book and I adore this cover.

Artist: Tuesday Riddell

(Visit the link in my bio for more info.)

Bad stupid comic bcuz mental illness is workin overtime right now

seviyor gibi bakmıştı.

Some fishes !

Mollusca - The Gastropod, Cephalopod, and Bivalve Pokémon

Prints can be found here!

The rest of the Pokémon Naturalist designs are also available here!

For #WorldBudgieDay, here is the 1st published image of a Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) for its scientific description by George Shaw (as the “Undulated Parrakeet") in The Naturalist's Miscellany of 1804-5.

(Yes, it appears unnaturally elongated, likely due to Shaw working from a skin rather than a living bird.)

Via BHL

New England native shrub patterns, in spring and autumn. Featuring some lepidoptera species hosted by the plants, in their larval and adult forms. For a project that's been 4 years in the works… More details soon. Mountain Holly Northern Wild Raisin American Mountain Ash Shadbush with Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Beaked Hazelnut with Luna Moth Staghorn Sumac with Spring Azure Butterfly Red-osier Dogwood with Cecropia Moth American Witch Hazel with Eastern Tent Moth Pussy Willow with Mourning Cloak Butterfly Gray Alder with Banded Tussock Moth Big-fruit Hawthorn with Viceroy Butterfly Winterberry Holly

Vous ai-je déjà dit à quel point j'aime dessiner les insectes ? 🥹💚

Voici mes illustrations du spectaculaire Oryctes nasicornis (Orycte nasicorne) pour mon prochain livre à paraître chez Delachaux & Niestlé.

Bon weekend ! 😊

This handsome buck is a sneak preview of something I’ll be announcing in May – in the meanwhile, we’ll just leave him to enjoy the sunshine with his fine feathered friends.

Jacopo Ligozzi

Cerasti cornuti in lotta (Fighting horned Cerastes). ca. 1577