Artist Inbox. No 2.
Feb 2025 newsletter featured a recently completed large scale ink drawing. Subscribers receive a preview of upcoming work I publish to social media and to my site.
Here I’m standing on a step ladder to hover above this 70 inches high x 50 inches wide ink drawing. Hard to get the scale, but this is by far the largest ink drawing I’ve taken on. Here’s the newsletter.
My plans changed. I expected this larger than life work to go through the summer of 2025 at the very least. After a pretty rough 8 or 9 months in 2024 working through the middle detail phases of this piece, the ending ramped up quicker than anticipated. Still, this work was on my large drawing wall for 1 year and 2 months. I’ve worked on this size paper prior, but never have I come close to covering this much of the paper with the work at hand. Measuring 70 inches tall by 50 inches wide, this is a vertical piece that I had to draw sideways as my large wall doesn’t rotate, throwing an extra challenge when stepping back from the details to check over my work as it progressed.
I’m very excited to say that I’m sharing this latest pen and ink drawing work with you first. Thank you for subscribing. Details…
Title: Understanding the Anhinga
Medium: Ink on paper - 70” h x 50” w
Completed 2025 (Dec 2024 - Feb 2025)
Below are a few preview images of the work along with a few bits about this special species so special to me. If you have the time, I recommend searching videos of the anhinga hunting underwater.
“Understanding the Anhinga”
The anhinga sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey.
Darter
Some of the nicknames come from the way the anhinga pokes its head out of the water like a snake, with its thin and narrow head and long beak which it uses to stab fish swimming underwater.
Movement
The anhinga uses its long neck to stretch out from above the water to strike fish which lie under the surface like a dagger. And with its long wingspan thrusting downward it can glide through the water looking for prey in a stealthy manner and maintain speed and depth using its webbed claws as a motor.
Spirit Animal
The feathers are not waterproof which lends to the ability to “fly” underwater. This is also why after a hunt you will see the Anhinga perched in the sun and expand its wings to dry out.
The origins of the Anhinga name come from the Tupi Indians in Brazil, meaning “devil” bird or “evil spirit of the woods.”
Source: All About Birds >
What endangers the species today is developing land and human encroachment on wetlands where they hunt and nest. Rescue efforts are largely due to this species becoming entangled by careless discarded commercial fishing equipment especially nets and lines. I chose to render this species for its beauty and skill, but also to build awareness to all bird species, that they should not be ignored when making decisions at a local level for human housing and industrial complexes. I decided to make this piece larger than life in size to ensure the artists statement comes through in a way the anhinga and other species like it cannot be ignored, but rather ask for the protection through better policies that support a more balanced coexistence of human and nature.
Here’s a video for scale reference: