More Males Should Try This......

The Mote Aquarium, in Sarasota, opened a new exhibit in the spring, that focused on aquatic babies.  Several of the tanks, both in this exhibit and in the lab off of the gift shop, were teaming with seahorses.  One tank, in particular, contained very "pregnant" fathers only.  I would be a very interesting notion if there were more males in the world who had the opportunity to carry and deliver offspring........

Not the greatest detail, but a good reference for shape, surface pattern, and fins.  Photograph.

I was surprised how aggressive the males were towards one another and wondered if they get as anxious as  delivery approaches as many human mothers do.  As with the nautilus, I am amazed at how mobile these sea creatures are and how speedy.  I did some quick sketches for use at a later time (in case I wanted to do a painting.)

This was another seahorse in the tank that had attached itself to some plants, by using it's tail - an interesting image, particularly in the overlapping and contrast of the colors.  Pencil on tan Strathmore sketch, 400 series.  Click to enlarge.

The bright green plants present a nice contrast in color to the background blue of the tank as the spiral upward.

If I do a painting of the seahorse, I will need to think about colors.  Most of the aquarium habitats I have observed in Florida emphasize a cerulean or pthalo-blue/aqua environment, yet the real seahorses in this exhibit or beiges and browns.  A great contrast would be orange or purple....hmmmmm!!!

These plants are a brilliant yellowy-green and appear to be semi-transparent.

I think in a painting, the plants will also have to be a broader range of green than in the actual exhibit.....otherwise a painted image will look very two-dimensional.

I love the motion in this overlap.  In addition to line, shading and contrast will be important in a painting.  The contour lines of the tail help with dimension!  Click to enlarge.

The little seahorses are fascinating to watch. Their tails help them navigate, swim, and secure themselves to objects...and who knows what else....

I placed these images in my "....save for Grand Marais" folder just in case I wanted to paint it as a follow-up to last year's aquatic set (in the summer of 2014 I also attended a 2-day workshop with Liz and completed four nautical painting:  an octopus, a lion fish, a crab, and a jellyfish!)