New graphics: wildlife illustration

Hello Everyone!

It’s been a while since I have posted anything substantial. I have finished drawing six new graphics recently, most of them depict Australian fauna, but i haven’t finished my project yet.

The first completed illustration was the Australian Bandicoot.

The bandicoot is a marsupial animal. There are more than twenty species of this omnivore marsupial, and they range from Australia to New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago. The bandicoots have V-shaped faces, ending with prominent noses. In that respect they resemble bilbies and elephant shrews. They also have sharp claws, which allow them to be excellent diggers. They have large ears, a short body and a long tail. The body is covered in fur, which can vary from brown to black, golden, white or grey. They have strong hind legs well adapted for jumping.

Their metabolic rate and low body temperature allows them to withstand hot and dry climates. They also lose water slower compared to other animals which further sides them in desert like conditions. I hope this helped in better understanding this fascinating animal.

The second graphic I created depicts a bird which originated from India.

Peacocks, or should I write peafowl belong to the same family as pheasants. The name peacock refers to the male, whilst peahen is the female peafowl. There is a clear dimorphism between both genders. The males display a predominantly blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped, wire-like like feathers and is best known for its long train made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers, which bear colourful eyespots.

These feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. Despite the large size of the tail they are still capable of flight. Peahens lack the train, have a white face and iridescent green lower neck, and dull brown plumage. The Indian peafowl lives mainly on the ground in open forest or on land under cultivation where it forages for berries, grains, but also preys on small lizards, snakes 🐍 and rodents 🐁 The peafowl is the national bird of India 🇮🇳 and is venerated in Hindu, and Greek mythology.

The third graphic I finished depicts the Australian Wedge Tailed Eagle.The Wedge Tailed Eagle (Aquila audacita) is the largest bird of prey in Australia. It is also found in New Guinea.

Adults of the species have long, broad wings, fully feathered legs, an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail, an elongated upper mandible, a strong beak and powerful feet.

A large brown-to-black bird of prey, it has a maximum reported wingspan of 2.84 m, and a length of up to 1.06 m. They reside in most habitats present in Australia, ranging from desert and semi-desert to plains to mountainous areas to forest, even sometimes tropical rainforests. Preferred habitats, however, tend towards those that have a fairly varied topography including rocky areas, some open terrain and native woodlots such as Eucalyptus stands. I was lucky to see one in real life, when I was travelling across Central Australia. It was sitting on a dead tree in the middle of the desert. A mile away from the eagle there was a dead cow, so I reckoned it might have been interested in a free meal. 🍽️

My fourth illustration created in the newest series of wildlife illustration, was the Flying Fox. Flying foxes, also known as fruit bats are the largest bats in the world. They live in South Asia, East Asia, Australia, East Africa, and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least sixty extant species in the genus.

Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal. They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate. They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs, with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting, culling, and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or perceived role in damaging crops. They are ecologically beneficial by assisting in the regeneration of forests via seed dispersal. They benefit ecosystems and human interests by pollinating plants.

I had a chance of seeing them many times in Australia for example in the Sydney botanical garden, but also the botanical garden in Melbourne. I also saw them in Seychelles roosting amongst the tree canopies of rainforests.

The next illustration I’d like to publish in regards to my newest wildlife collection, depicts the Tasmanian Devil. 😈 The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial, and is the largest one after the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It used to be present across mainland Australia, now it’s confined to the island of Tasmania.

It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil’s large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion.

Despite its rotund appearance, it is capable of surprising speed and endurance, and can climb trees and swim across rivers. I was extremely lucky to see a Tasmanian Devil when I visited Healesville Sanctuary in Badger Creek (VIC) Australia many years ago. I was surprised by its speed, it was the size of a small dog and would gallop across its habitat.

The next wildlife illustration I’d like to present is a depiction of the goofy looking emu.

Emus are a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the largest native bird. It is the only extant member of the genus Dromaius and the second-tallest living bird after its African ratite relative, the common ostrich. The emu’s native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland.

Emus have soft, brown feathers with long necks and legs, and can reach up to 1.9 m in height. They are robust bipedal runners that can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 48 km/h. They are omnivorous and forage on a variety of plants and insects, and can go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently, but take in copious amounts of fresh water when the opportunity arises.

Emus were used as a source of food by indigenous Australians and early European settlers. Emus are inquisitive birds and have been known to approach humans if they see unexpected movement of a limb or piece of clothing. In the wild, they may follow and observe people.

Aboriginal Australians used a variety of techniques to catch the birds, including spearing them while they drank at waterholes, catching them in nets, and attracting them by imitating their calls or by arousing their curiosity with a ball of feathers and rags dangled from a tree.

Aboriginal Australians only killed emus out of necessity, and frowned on anyone who hunted them for any other reason.

Emus have also played an important role in the history of Australia, especially in 1932 during the so called Emu War. Emus flocked to the Chandler and Walgoolan area during a dry spell, damaging rabbit fencing and devastating crops. An attempt to drive them off was mounted, with the army called in to dispatch them with machine guns; the emus largely avoided the hunters. It took 10 bullets to kill one emu, and eventually the soldiers just gave up on further hunting.

The emu is popularly but unofficially considered as a faunal emblem – the national bird of Australia.