Sea Turtle, 43

5: thoughts between paintings
Interesting fact: The Ridley Sea Turtle is the smallest species of sea turtle.


4: the finished painting
Kind of a heroic pose, don't you think? I especially enjoyed painting the sunset reflection on the shell.

This painting is one in my personal collection (not for sale).

RIDLEY SEA TURTLE, original 8.5x11" oil painting by puci

3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)
I chose to paint the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, endangered due to various types of human interference. This sunset photo is a good visual, but not quite what I have in mind.

2: capturing the selected image

This is a Google Satellite view of the area where sea turtles nest, and the hatchling baby sea turtles are known to make their pilgrimage towards the ocean. The greatest activity of nesting sea turtles along Gulf beaches is between June and August, with newly emerging hatchlings arriving about 2 months later.

1: planning the destination

Sea turtles are fascinating, and many are unfortunately endangered. Let's travel to the Texas Gulf Coast and see if we can spot any...