Swordwhale Walking: illustration, webcomic, stories, photojourneys, videos
  • launch here
  • art & stories
    • black horses
    • Sea Ponies of Chincoteague
    • Just Animals
    • playing with water
    • Tradigital illustration
    • environmental education >
      • Christmas Magic Mural 2020
      • animal alphabet and counting murals
      • Assateague ponies
      • the salamander room
      • more touch room ocean
      • more: touch room forest
      • wetland
      • wetland art
      • greenleaf
      • reptile week murals: Nixon Park
    • just animals: photography
    • Tales of the E.L.F. >
      • That Darn Elf, a musing or two
      • cast and crew
      • I dreamed of black horses
      • fanfiction: If Wishes Were Elves...
      • Skyfire
      • Leyover and Bardic Circle
      • Following Raven
      • The Merrow's Cap >
        • Merrows Cap credits
      • Manannan's Horses
      • Fins
      • fandom >
        • Radagast's Rabbit Ride
        • the Lone Ranger >
          • LOLs and Trolls
          • but wait, there's Moore, and Silverheels
          • Hi Yo Silver
        • black panthers and night furies
        • tales of Middle Earth >
          • Mirthwood
          • Loth-LOL-ien >
            • Im-LOL-dris
            • Smirkwood
            • well, that coulda' been worse
        • Sherlocked
        • catz and doges on fandom
        • Faithful Sidekicks
    • murals
    • scribblings
    • coloring pages
  • mermaid tales
    • Gramma Swordwhale's Mermaid Blog >
      • how to mermaid
      • merfolk on the Chesapeake
      • my life as a mermaid
    • privateers and pumpkins and ponies oh my!
    • stupid gravity (the adventures of a mermaid on Eastern Neck Is.) >
      • stupid gravity credits
    • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass >
      • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass: credits
    • Stupid Gravity: Misty Cloudy Windy Stormy Augh! >
      • Misty Stormy credits
    • Stupid Gravity: the search for mermaids
    • mermaids, Moana and Maui, beached on Christmas Eve
    • horseshoe crabs forever
    • stupid gravity: hot hot hot >
      • hot hot hot credits
  • Chincoteague
    • back to the islands 2021 >
      • Ponies 2021
    • identify that pony
    • chincoteague pony art
    • Fall Roundup Oct 2019
    • Chincoteague 2019
    • pookas pumpkins and swamp ponies
    • Chincoteague Carousel
    • Chincoteague November 2018
    • the 3rd Sea Voyage of Makenuk's Fin
    • wild horses and kayaks 2017
    • wild ponies in camp
    • North Beach
    • on island time
    • saltwater cowboys
    • Chincoteague
    • Christmas by the Sea
    • island ponies
    • Ace and Unci revolt
    • beached
    • running water in between
    • Assateague Light
    • the Haunted Lagoon
  • crafty stuff
    • photo your toys >
      • how to photograph Breyers in the wild
      • Lokigator and Throg's Epic Adventure
      • Sam and Bucky's Excellent Adventure
      • Mando and Grogu
      • paint and wet snow pants
      • Legolas and Hwin, snow
      • derps (or how not to photograph Breyers and others)
      • Wonder Horse repaint
      • wild Breyers >
        • printable prints and downloads
        • water horses
        • beach Breyers
        • Lotus Legolas and Arod
        • teeny tiny Breyers
        • backyard Breyers and Schleichs
        • vintage breyers
        • Hartland Horses
        • Black Horses
      • educational display
      • Schleich and Safari Faeries
      • North beached
      • more model horses
      • beach party
      • advenatureData
      • Finding Hank
      • Otterlock and Hedgejawn >
        • Hounded in Baskerville
      • how to photograph your dragon
    • Rich Toy hobby horse rehab
    • ModPodge rules
    • paint pours
    • flour salt clay
    • chalk paint
    • rock it: paint rocks and use or lose them
    • faerie gardens >
      • more faerie gardens
      • faerie festival at Spoutwood Farm
    • sea this tutu (and make)
    • I found Dory
    • knit me a mermaid, or chicken, or Hei Hei
    • sea treasures
    • sea glass
    • sea horses
    • rehabbing horse epic fail >
      • do you wanna build a snow pony?
      • do you wanna build a sand pony?
      • Barbie horse gets a makeover
    • mermaid saddles
    • Yule Laugh, Yule Cry... >
      • a Brandywine Christmas
    • Uncle Bob's Toys >
      • Uncle Bob's Toys 2016
      • more: Uncle Bob's Crafts
      • the Adventures of Mortimer
  • adventures
    • Go Play Outside
    • Nature Deficit Disorder
    • I heart Nature
    • autumn light
    • cats
    • mushing 101 >
      • dogs on wheels >
        • Autumn Run on Wheels
      • dogsled
      • dogsledding: running on snow! >
        • Groundhog Day
      • kids and dawgs: first sled run
      • Klondike Derby
      • Sled Dogs and Pirate Ships
      • Christmas Day Run: Rail Trail
      • Horses and Huskies: when predator and prey share the trail
      • Schipperke doo dah >
        • Runnin' with the Big Dogs
        • Hobbit Husky
      • women who run with the wolves
      • Play Time
      • wubba wubba
      • New Year's Dog Day
      • Team Swordwhale
    • trains, sleddogs, and horses oh my!
    • butterscotch and sprinkles
    • horses >
      • horse reference for art
      • ponies small but mighty
      • First Horse: Saraf
      • the Wild Black Mare
      • between thunder and lightning
      • Goliath, Nevada Mustang
      • Yataalii
    • Planet Water >
      • Planet fish tank
      • planet toadpool
      • Planet Pond
      • Planet Stream
      • Planet River
      • Planet Marsh
      • Planet Ocean
      • Planet Water Bird >
        • Planet Water Bird: gulls
      • Planet turtle
      • Planet water snake
      • planet amphibian
    • kayak! >
      • blue boat home
      • kayaking 101
      • kayaking Assateague and Chincoteague
      • how to train your dragonfly
      • Chasing Raven
      • the Susquehanna River >
        • the Rock Garden >
          • return to the Rock Garden
        • Conewago Dreamin'
        • the Conejehola Flats
        • Thunderbird Island (petroglyphs on the Susquehanna)
        • to the White Lady and Beyond
      • Calvert Cliffs fossils
      • Sassafras River Lotus Paddle >
        • Return to the Sassafras
        • sassafras river 2015
        • sassafras paddle 20160814
        • Sassafras River 2017
        • Sassafras river 2018
      • Eastern Neck Island >
        • winter marsh, winter beach
        • Eastern Neck Island: under the supermoon
        • more Eastern Neck Island
      • Pinchot Park
      • Lake Marburg >
        • where are the manatees?
        • ...and the dolphins???
        • macros and SAVs
        • Lake Marburg 2018
        • how to be a kayaking Gramma
    • beached
    • dive in! (SCUBA) >
      • Gourd of the Rings
    • mid Atlantic seashells
    • longship company >
      • December sail
      • Sae Hrafn at Oakley
    • pirates and privateers >
      • Sailing 101
      • Schooner Sultana 1768
      • Capt John Smith Shallop
      • Pride of Baltimore II
      • Kalmar Nyckel
      • downrigging 2010 >
        • Chestertown autumn
        • Downrigging Weekend 2014
        • Downrigging 2015
        • Downrigging 2016
        • Downrigging 2017
        • downrigging 2018: pink tardis
        • Downrigging 2019
      • privateer weekend
    • horseshoe crabs and red knots >
      • horseshoe crab spawn 2021
      • slaughter beach
      • horseshoe crabs and semipalmated sandpipers 2019
    • surfboards and watchtowers: Cape Henlopen >
      • beached
      • Watching Whales >
        • Watching Whales...again
    • Seadogs: Newfoundland water trials
    • wind hounds
    • wild things! >
      • baltimore aquarium
      • there's a hummer in the garage...ceiling ...
      • critter cam
      • sky walking
      • leaf-fall
    • The Adventures of the Good Ship Fearaf
    • the incredibly dead blog page
  • art class
    • framing 101
    • watercolor: how to
    • sip n paints
    • acrylic painting 101
    • wildlife art class
    • Santa, You're Doomed
    • (drawing) horses 101 >
      • horse color 101
      • gaits
      • ponies in motion
      • tack
      • Draw: a horse
    • dogs and wolves
    • go ahead, draw a pirate ship
    • anthropomorphism (cartoon animals and stuff)
    • the Little Kids Page of Big Ideas
    • mural: how to >
      • Gabriel's Whale
      • stuff you need
      • drawing (mural)
      • drawing mural 2
      • painting
      • mural jungle
      • mural bat cave
      • mural cats
      • mural ocean
      • mural arctic
      • mural leaf smacking
      • watershed mural
    • crayons and colored pencils
    • palettes
  • wait wait! let me get the camera!
  • who perpetrated all this???
    • swordbroad

for high quality jpgs of images on these pages or to commission original images email me at swordwhale@yahoo.com

B'loo, Nikki & Danielle

connecting kids (and others) with the natural world

I've wrangled barfing vultures, baby tigers, otters (they bite!), and participated in the Great Emu Roundup (yee-hah!..and it's hard to rope one, they're shaped to shed lariats) volunteering with local wildlife rehabbers. I've also had the honor of volunteering with a local county park/nature center whose mission is to educate people about the environment. I've also had the honor of them allowing me to smear paint over their walls (they actually pay me for this). Here are a few examples of murals (portable, permanent and transitory), cartoons and other illustrations that hopefully give kids an insight onto dirt, bears, oceans, forests and other wonders of Planet Water.

Tweet
Picture

Wetlands

My favorite place is wetlands, and my favorite medium is watercolor. Here are some illustrations I did for a watershed alliance and others.Most are from my own photos except for a few photos from PA Birders (facebook), whose photographers let me do art from their pics. A few like beaver and muskrat had to be researched online.

Nixon Park Gift Shop Illustrations

A few designs for buttons and cards, most are based on animals found at the park,
​whether live outside, or the park's world class taxidermy.
Picture

"The Salamander Room"

...was the name of an excellent kids' picture book, about a boy who wants a salamander, and begins to bring in all the habitat the salamander needs to survive...ending with his room being the forest itself. Nixon Park's "Bee Room" (where the hive can be observed) contains a display on local amphibians and reptiles. I did the standee "Sal" pointing to the crawl-through salamander tunnel (with small cartoons explaining the world of salamanders), the hellbender "parts of an amphibian" poster to the left, and the four habitats with cutouts to place (like a puzzle) of amphibians to place in their habitats.
the salamander room
Picture
for more, click here

animal alphabet and counting one to ten

For the Boetcher House's nature based daycare in Lancaster PA.
​Landis Woods, Part of Manheim Township Parks.
more here: (click)

Picture

Touch Rooms: Nixon County Park, York County PA

As part of its educational mission, Nixon Park's visitor's center has a "touch room" full of hands-on activities for young kids and their parents. Murals, games, "design-your-own" forest (or ocean or bird...) wall, dress-up chest, puppet theater.

Touch Room Wetland

Nixon Park's touch room becomes an important environment not many appreciate. This time, instead of painting on the walls directly, I painted on large boards (they'd only fit in my basement!). Most of the critters were from my own photos, often shot over the bow of my kayak.

more: click here...

Picture

Touch Room Ocean

For "Under the Sea", I did a wall mural (how do you fit a life-sized blue whale into a twenty foot room? Perspective), and cartoons of sea animals illustrating fact sheets. A cousin contributed a surfboard (the same size as the dorsal fin of a male orca, "swordwhale".

more: click here...

Touch Room Forest

This is a scene in a white oak forest with a dozen of its denizens. The brown tags cover part of the critter and have clues to the animal's identity. Lifting them reveals the whole critter and the answer. First I did a watercolor sketch in my sketchbook. Armed with photos and illustrations of the critters, I tackled the wall. Chalk often works well to sketch, but this wall has a rough texture: paint on a pointy brush worked better. In the fox sketch, you can see the blue paint I started with: a very rough sketch. That was refined with black.

​more: click here...

Watershed Mural

The purpose of the Nixon Park visitor's center is education, connecting people with the natural world they are part of. 3D displays on the North Woods, the Arctic, Africa and others incorporate taxidermy, habitat and murals. The wall by the restrooms became a focal point for educating people about the watershed they live in: the east branch of the Codorus Creek (which the park is also part of). A water meter measuring park use sits to one side. I started by looking at maps and aerial photography of the area, but interpreted the spaghetti maze of visual information, simplifying it into a landscape hopefully everyone can relate to. I used Photoshop to compose a rough, then projected the map on the wall, traced, then painted with house paints. House paint is opaque and you have to be careful how you mix it or you get a muddy chalky mess. Choosing the right colors to start with was important.



Soil, It's Not Just Dirt

Naturalist Jodi was sitting on the floor surrounded by a pile of paper, printed with an encyclopedic volume of information about dirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked.
"A display about dirt."
"Sounds exciting."
​

Yeah. How can we get people to look at this and absorb information about that stuff under their feet. Ah, cute cartoon characters. Someone else had done something with an earthworm. Worms are hard to cartoon, to anthropomorphize. Perhaps because they don't have hands..or arms or legs or any other recognizeable body parts. We thought about what lives in soil and came up with salamanders. They're kind of cute; they have big eyes and bright colors, "hands" and can be anthropomorphized. Voile soiley! 


Raptor Red

Raptor Red is the title of an excellent book by paleontologist Robert Bakker, a fun lecturer who punctuates his talks with giant marker drawings of dinos which he gives away to kids (and appreciative adults) who answer his dino questions correctly. RR is a Utahraptor, discovered while Steven Spielburg was doing his first Jurassic Park film. He had enlarged velociraptor (about the size of a large dog) for movie impact. Then they found Utahraptor. I did this portable mural for Nixon Park's Dinosaur Weekend. I drew her on plywood (an enterprising maintenance guy cut her out), and painted her with house paints from our tool room, using house brushes, artist brushes, rollers and sponges. More recent paleontology suggests they, and many other dinos, had feathers.

 

Chipmunks

"You will know more about chipmunks than you ever imagined." The park director said something like that as he handed me a pile of books about this small striped ground squirrel. I absorbed facts about chipmunks and their burrows, doodled in my sketchbook, ran it past the naturalists and park director and went to work on eleven feet of brown craft paper with crayons, pastels and Prismacolor pencil. It was laminated, and serves as a portable mural about the hidden lives of chipmunks.


Wild Things

Wildlife rehabbers care for orphaned and injured wildlife; native animals are protected by game laws, you need a permit (and a lot of training and experience) to care for even orphaned bunnies (highly sensitive and prone to dying suddenly). I was one of many volunteers who helped Mitzi Eaton (raptors) and Barb Gregory (mammals, waterfowl, and the odd exotic) care for wild things. I also trained a few wild mustangs, including my own black mare who had run wild for the first 8 years of her life before coming to me.

I learned a few things: vultures barf when upset (stinky! and it distracts predators from eating the vulture), a three pound great horned owl can handcuff you quite effectively to a perch (one foot on your glove, one on the perch...there you stay), owls have 1000psi per talon tip... and they have eight talons, otters can bite through 6 mil dive gloves, a four month old tiger can encompass my ample thigh with its jaws, don't lasso an emu, the rope just slides off their aerodynamic shape, owls and hawks in the buteo family (redtail, broadwing) will tolerate a classful of screaming third graders but accipiters (sharp-shinned, Coopers) and falcons will dive off your glove and hang there like the Great American Batbird. They make awesome falconry birds for the expert.

​Here are a few illustrations I did as T-shirt designs, coloring book pages, and one illustration of my own mustang adpted through the BLM's Adopt-a-Horse (wild horses) program. (This appeared in a book of Nancy Springer (Connor)'s poetry: Stardark Songs).

rain barrels

how to paint a "camo" rain barrel

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.