Project Description
The purpose of this project is to commit to a forty-day challenge to improve design skills. I want to design a series of drawings of sea animals with informative and fun facts about each one. This will hopefully bring awareness to sea life and help increase levels of conservation amongst the public. This project will take place primarily on Procreate, which will improve my digital design skills. Each creature will utilize different tools and elements of the software to ensure my familiarity with it. I am very familiar with most sea creatures and may use lecture topics from my marine biology course for inspiration. A YouTuber known as Kiwi Sprouts did a slightly similar project for a course where they made a set of playing cards using symbiotic relationships of animals. Another YouTuber, known as karo.lineart, creates sketchbook spreads of animals, and then transfers them into Procreate as a final edit.
Karo.lineart sketchbook spread
#1: The Octopus
This is my very first daily spark! Procreate and I are now well acquainted and on our way to becoming great friends. I’ve found my go-to brushes for sketching and inking and have been trying out different textures and layering methods.
#2: The Cuttlefish
The cuttlefish was a bit of a challenge because I couldn’t figure out a good angle to draw it. I looked up a few different reference photos to get more familiar with the anatomy, but mine ended up looking sort of like a bird? I think if I were to do this again, I would separate the tentacles a bit more.
#3: The Yeti Crab
I really don’t like the way this one turned out. Again, I struggled with finding the right angle, which was my biggest issue given the big fluffy claws. This drawing was more cartoonish than I wanted, and I was just ready to be done with it. The reason I include it in the daily sparks is because it’s still a part of the challenge, whether or not I’m satisfied with the outcome.
#4: The Blue Tang
The blue tang definitely went better than the yeti crab; I actually enjoyed this one! It’s on the simpler side; I could have added more textures or scales to the actual body of the fish. Maybe I’ll redraw some of these in the future! (Not the yeti crab, that’s a lost cause.)
#5: The Leatherback Sea Turtle
This one is my favorite so far. I really like the texture and the speckles on the “shell”. You may be thinking, “Nat, what’s with the quotation marks? It’s a turtle so it has a shell, right?” Wrong! The leatherback sea turtle is the only turtle in the world that does not have a shell. The only thing I would change in the future is consistency in my handwriting… My bad!
#6: The Moon Jellyfish
This one is also pretty simple, I kind of got lost in the transparency aspect of the moon jelly and sacrificed texture and anatomy. A real moon jelly is sort of an off-white translucent thing that you can see its organs through.
#7: The Ocellaris Clownfish
I had a fun time making this one, but I do wish there was a little more texture to it. Clownfish are one of my favorite fish; I work with them a lot in the wet lab here at RWU. I can’t wait for the day where I can have my own clownfish!
#8: The Leafy Sea Dragon
Absolutely no clue why I chose to do this one. Genuinely no idea. The leafy sea dragon, a cousin of the seahorse, has a very complex pattern and shape that I didn’t execute very well. That being said, I commend myself for stepping further out of my comfort zone.
#9: The Pufferfish
I love this silly little dude, pufferfish are some of my favorite creatures because they always look so excited. Not too much to be said for this one, I kind of wish the spikes were different but I’m not too sure how?
#10: The Humpback Whale
Humpback whales are another of my favorite creatures, and they have been since I was a Kid. If you couldn’t tell, I’m very fond of the speckle brushes in Procreate.
#11: The Manta Ray
I’m not gonna lie, I did trace this one… Manta rays have always been hard for me, and I have no clue why. Every single time I find a tutorial or good reference image, mine always comes out wonky. Maybe one day I’ll redo it one day.
#12: The Koi fish
Yes, I’m aware that koi fish aren’t sea creatures. However, I made the rules, so I’m allowed to bend them. So ha. I really enjoyed playing with the opacity and texture in different layers for the fins and scales.
#13: The Harp Seal
I love this little guy! I’m not sure how accurate he is, but he’s really goofy, and I like his face. This time around, I used a couple of different brushes, including the rainforest brush. I really wanted to convey the patterns on the harp seal, especially because of the muted color palette.
#14: The Sea Snail
Sea snails come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors; it was really hard to choose one! In the end, I went with one that looks like the snails I have at home. Those are technically freshwater snails but there are saltwater snails that look like this.
#15: The Sea Otter
Sea otters!! These guys were kind of challenging to draw because I can never get the limbs right. Nevertheless, I persevere! I tried to use the hair tool to create some texture, but I don’t think it worked very well…
#16: The Basking Shark
Basking sharks are so silly to me because they grow up to 26 feet long but are completely harmless to humans. Their throats are too small to swallow a person, and they also don’t think we taste very good. Basking sharks are filter feeders that mostly munch on plankton and other stuff floating in the ocean.
#17: The Yellow Tang
Yellow tangs are super cute! They don’t really have any discerning personality traits, they just kind of vibe. Which is totally fair! I think if I were a reef fish, I would be a yellow tang or a black-tip reef shark.
#18: The Cherry Shrimp
Another freshwater creature, we’re pretending it’s not! I bought a total of four shrimp for my freshwater tank at home; they all died within 48 hours. No clue what happened, but I’m 80% sure it wasn’t my fault? The pet store I got them from is less than questionable so that would make sense. It’s also entirely possible that Pierre (my snail) terrorized them.
#19: The Greenland Shark
Greenland sharks are the grumpy grandpas of the ocean. When I say they are the oldest sharks in the world, I mean they have been around the longest and they live the longest. The oldest recorded Greenland shark was 392 years old. And they look the part! They have a kind of dead-eyed stare that says, “If you breathe on me wrong, I will 100% cease to exist.”
#20: The Bottlenose Dolphin
Bonus fun fact: I hate dolphins. Everyone thinks that they’re sooo cute and sooo quirky; they aren’t. They are really rude and annoying and everyone thinks they’re hot sh*t. They are too smart for their own good and have been known to assault humans on purpose.
#21: The Manatee
I always forget how much I love manatees! They’re so cute and friendly, and I want to meet one in real life. I had a lot of fun with the shape and shading of this one. Bonus fun fact: manatees move so slowly that they grow algae on their backs!
#22: The Whale Shark
This one just looks wonky, I can’t figure out why. I’m pretty sure I went in and colored over every other polka dot on the head because I couldn’t figure out the right spacing. Maybe I’ll redraw this one day, but it’s not that bad.
#23: The Hammerhead Shark
Hammerhead sharks are so silly to me, I love them. They’ve always been a bit difficult for me to draw, but I think this one turned out pretty well.
#24: The Blacktip Reef Shark
So the blacktip reef shark is more gray in real life, no clue how it turned out so brown. This is my favorite type of shark, if I were to get a tattoo (which I won’t cause I’m scared of needles) I would get a blacktip reef shark.
#25: The Thresher Shark
I love thresher sharks; they always look so nervous or concerned. I’ve always struggled with drawing sharks because the outlines never quite look right. I’ve also started experimenting more with shading and blending colors.
#26: The Anglerfish
Y’all remember the craze over that one female anglerfish that floated to the water’s surface before she died? It was some weird TikTok craze; everyone was so empathetic with her wanting to see the sun before she died. I really like the way the teeth turned out on this one.
#27: The Orca Whale
Whale tails and I have a… special relationship. By that, I mean I hate drawing them. The angles are always wonky, and I can never get it to look right. Other than that, I like the way the lines turned out!
#28: The Giant Squid
This is the only one where the fun fact is different, and I’m not happy about it. But this guy is super cool! I really liked drawing the tentacles.
#29: The Ocean Sunfish
The fun fact didn’t come through very well, my bad. It says, “The ocean sunfish can weigh up to 2,200 pounds!” The ocean sunfish is so silly because it flaps its fins vertically to swim? Hard to explain, but here’s a video of it.
#30: The Archerfish
I remember seeing the archerfish being fed when I went to the aquarium once. The guy put a cricket on a long bamboo stick and held it above the water in the tank. The archerfish crowded around each other, and all shot their waterspouts at the stick. The cricket fell into the water and was snatched up immediately.
#31: The Dumbo Octopus
I think the dumbo octopus is so cute!! They look so squishy and a bit slimy in real life. If you haven’t already guessed, I like drawing things with tentacles. Sometimes I feel like there should be more detail on this lil guy, but then I remember there really isn’t much to them.
#32: The Emperor Penguin
Happy Feet was one of my sister’s favorite movies as a kid, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Whenever it was her turn to pick a movie, she would choose Shrek or Happy Feet. Every. Time. I remember learning about them in second grade; we all colored paper eggs and taped them to our seats.
#33: The Sea Sponge
There really isn’t much to say here; it’s a sponge. At this point in the game, I was kind of running out of ideas, and I had just learned about sea sponges in my lecture, so I figured, why not?
#34: The Nautilus
I don’t really know much about the nautilus, other than the fact that some of them have gas-filled chambers in their shells that help them maintain buoyancy.
#35: The Sea Star
Sea stars are so fascinating to me; I love watching their little tube feet scuttle across whatever surface they’re on. I remember looking at sea stars in a high school bio class. We talked about regeneration and how the symmetry of the sea stars’ arms is preserved as best as possible.
#36: The Sea Nettle
Ever wonder how sea jellies keep from stinging each other? Me too. Every time I say I’m going to look it up, my brain travels in hyper speed to literally anything else I could possibly be thinking about. Google says, “Jellyfish of the same species generally don’t sting each other due to chemical cues. Their tentacles contain nematocysts, which are specialized cells that only fire when triggered by specific chemical or physical signals.” I guess that makes sense…
#37: The Sea Bunny
What I wouldn’t give to have a sea bunny as a pet. Yeah, I know they’re toxic, but that’s not the point! They’re just so cute!!
#38: The Yellow Boxfish
I know I’ve said that I want several of these animals as pets, but this time I’m serious. I’ve wanted a yellow boxfish for a few years now. However, these things cost money. More money than I am able to spend on fish right now. Perhaps one day my greatest wish in life (not really) will come true.
#39: The Ghost Crab
My second attempt at a crab, not bad! I’ll admit I may or may not have traced parts of this one… It’s okay for me to break the rules a little, I made them! If you’ve ever seen video clips of ghost crabs cleaning their eyes, you’ll know what I mean when I say that it’s one of the most disturbingly adorable things I have ever seen.
#40: The Anemone
My toxic trait is believing that I can touch poisonous/toxic things and not suffer any consequences. If you know me, you know that I have absolutely no self-preservation. My slogan is, “I believe in ‘F*ck around and find out’ mindsets.” Yes, I am aware that there are consequences for my actions. Do I care? Not particularly. Am I on my way to touch the stingy things anyway? You bet!!
And so, here we are at the end of an era. I’m really glad I did this project, I think my digital art has improved a lot, and my knowledge of Procreate along with it. I still wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I’m definitely more confident in my navigation skills (please do not ask me to give you directions to a real place, you will probably end up in a completely different state). To bring these creatures to life, I’ve made a set of postcards with a QR code linked to an ocean conservation donation station (hehe rhymes). As inconsistent as I was, I did enjoy updating this site and sharing my little blurbs with you. I think I’ll update more personal projects as time goes on.
