Halichoeres's drawings

[Faelrin]

I just stumbled upon this thread (I really ought to check out the art section more frequently), and man is your artwork absolutely beautiful. I've also learned of several interesting fishes for the first time checking this out, such as the eel shark (really want a figure of that now).

It also reminded me of how I used to draw a lot back in high school (mainly dragons). I really ought to get a sketch book and pick it back up again one of these days. On a similar note I ought to get back into sculpting as well, which I haven't done that since I was in high school either.

[Shonisaurus]

Apart from being an ichthyologist, you are a consecrated artist, you make some unusual drawings. I congratulate you Halichoeres, every day I like your thread more.

[Halichoeres]

Thank you all for the kind words.

Usually Inktober finds me very busy with no time to draw, but a recent minor injury kept me from enough tasks that I had time to dash this off.


†Araucarioxylon arizonicum, reconstructed following Creber & Ash 2000 (Palaeontology 43: 15); despite the name, it didn't much resemble modern Araucaria. They often toppled into rivers to be covered in silt after the current eroded the bank, which is how we have so many beautiful petrified wood specimens. Also seen are the fern †Phlebopteris and the lungfish †Arganodus, and some hypothetical lycophytes.

A 2007 review suggests that †Pullisilvaxylon arizonicum is the more appropriate name for these specimens. My brief survey of the literature suggests this is still contentious, but that the name Araucarioxylon is unlikely to survive.

[Shonisaurus]

@Halichoeres My wishes that you fully recover from your injury. On the other hand, this reconstruction of that Triassic fauna is brutal. That drawing is a complete work of art. On the other hand, I admire you, you have an admirable culture about biology and fauna in general, and it is not only fish that is your specialty. By the way, how tall was the araucarioxylon arizonicum according to paleontological discoveries?

[PlesiosaurusNessy]

@Halichoeres : This is a great drawing of this ancient prehistoric tree and, it looks exactly like a ca. 4 metres high tree in front of my house!
The tree is now 40 years old, but I don´t know its scientific name!

The Araucaria nowadays is very old from prehistoric times, too, but looks totally different to your drawing, the neighbours opposite the street
have an Araucaria in their garden, it has very sharp leaves, is growing extremely slowly, but can get very old and tall!

Your drawings are absolut fabulous and I wished, I had so much talent to draw!
The drawing of Legnonotus is great, it looks very authentic and very real!

God bless you, to recover soon of your hurt!

To answer the question of @Shonisaurus,the Araucarioxylon had a height up to 60 metres and 60 cm in diameter! Please,have a look into
Wikipedia and Google, there you´ll find a lot of articles about Araucarioxylon!

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Oh that is lovely art, I wish you well

[Shonisaurus]

P @PlesiosaurusNessy Thanks for the info. I didn't know it was such a big tree.

[Faelrin]

Beautiful scene. Love the little fish poking its head out. Sorry to hear you've experienced an injury as well. I hope you are feeling better in no time.

[Halichoeres]

@Halichoeres : This is a great drawing of this ancient prehistoric tree and, it looks exactly like a ca. 4 metres high tree in front of my house!
The tree is now 40 years old, but I don´t know its scientific name!

The Araucaria nowadays is very old from prehistoric times, too, but looks totally different to your drawing, the neighbours opposite the street
have an Araucaria in their garden, it has very sharp leaves, is growing extremely slowly, but can get very old and tall!

Your drawings are absolut fabulous and I wished, I had so much talent to draw!
The drawing of Legnonotus is great, it looks very authentic and very real!

God bless you, to recover soon of your hurt!

To answer the question of @Shonisaurus,the Araucarioxylon had a height up to 60 metres and 60 cm in diameter! Please,have a look into
Wikipedia and Google, there you´ll find a lot of articles about Araucarioxylon!

Thank you for the kind words and well wishes! I wonder if your tree is a fir (genus Abies). They're reasonably common in temperate climates and sometimes have a growth habit sort of like this. Thanks also for the swift reply to Shoni's question that I quite overlooked

Thanks to everyone else for visiting and wishing me well. I had to get some glass cut out of my foot but it's all healed up now.

[Halichoeres]

†Illinichthys cozarti, an actinopterygian named for the Illinois (Illiniwek) Confederation, a group of Native tribes from the western Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River region. It hails from the Mazon Creek locality (home of Tullimonstrum), Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) of Illinois. Total length is about 8-9 cm. I'm not happy with how the eye turned out, but ink can be pretty unforgiving so it's just going to stay this way.

[Shonisaurus]

It is an exceptional drawing like all those you make of fish, from what I see and comment with ink you cannot rectify the defect of the Illinichthys eye but I honestly know it because you have commented on it, it hardly shows, I honestly see it perfect.

[Newt]

Ooh, nice work on the Illinichthys! Palaeonisciforms don't get enough attention. Out of curiosity, what sort of pens are you using for your ink work?

[Halichoeres]

Thank you both!

Ooh, nice work on the Illinichthys! Palaeonisciforms don't get enough attention. Out of curiosity, what sort of pens are you using for your ink work?

I mostly use Pigma Micron pens of various weights, but I make particularly heavy use of the 005 pen. I also have a set of Faber-Castell artist pens but I can never keep their sizes straight relative to the Pigmas.

[Stegotyranno420]

^nice

[Newt]

I mostly use Pigma Micron pens of various weights, but I make particularly heavy use of the 005 pen. I also have a set of Faber-Castell artist pens but I can never keep their sizes straight relative to the Pigmas.

Thanks! You're getting good detail from the Pigmas. I always have trouble with the smaller nib sizes skipping or blotching, which is probably just me being too heavy-handed.

[Jose S.M.]

That's a very nice looking fish! Also I like the handwriting of the name and signature very much.

[triceratops83]

Beautiful drawing, though it doesn't look like a very appetizing fish. I think I'd throw it back. I'd be set in the Jurassic, however, I've seen pictures of fossil Scallops from that time and it's good to know one of my favourite foods was around back then if I'm ever time travelling.

Ooh, I just scrolled back some and noticed the gorgeous Legnonotus (great colours, by the way) - now that's a sandwich fish!

[ceratopsian]

Even if you are not satisfied with the eye, you have been very successful at capturing the feel of volume in the body. I enjoy seeing your drawings.

[Halichoeres]

I mostly use Pigma Micron pens of various weights, but I make particularly heavy use of the 005 pen. I also have a set of Faber-Castell artist pens but I can never keep their sizes straight relative to the Pigmas.

Thanks! You're getting good detail from the Pigmas. I always have trouble with the smaller nib sizes skipping or blotching, which is probably just me being too heavy-handed.

Thank you! I definitely use a really light hand with the small nibs. The 005 is also vulnerable to compaction, especially if used for stippling. If it's the first time uncapping them in a while, I scribble with them a little bit, which helps with blotches.

That's a very nice looking fish! Also I like the handwriting of the name and signature very much.

Thanks! Didn't think anyone would notice the handwriting--I secretly loathe cursive.

Beautiful drawing, though it doesn't look like a very appetizing fish. I think I'd throw it back. I'd be set in the Jurassic, however, I've seen pictures of fossil Scallops from that time and it's good to know one of my favourite foods was around back then if I'm ever time travelling.

Ooh, I just scrolled back some and noticed the gorgeous Legnonotus (great colours, by the way) - now that's a sandwich fish!

Ha ha, they'd both be kind of tough fish to clean, covered in thick bony scales, but Legnonotus is definitely a better sandwich fish. Closer to walleye or perch size.

Even if you are not satisfied with the eye, you have been very successful at capturing the feel of volume in the body. I enjoy seeing your drawings.

Thanks very much!

[Halichoeres]

When I say ""three-horned face of the Cretaceous," I mean Tricerichthys wenzi (Taverne & Capasso 2015). This pycnodont looked like a sea robin head glued to a filefish body, and was named for the three midline spines on top of its head, one on the frontal, one on the occiput, and an extra-long one on the nape. It also had a spine at the anal fin origin, ventrally between the cleithra (cleithra are the bones that sit right behind the gills and anchor the pectoral fins), and projecting anteriorly from the cleithra. It was a living caltrop! But a small one, at about 5.5 cm standard length (that is, not including the caudal fin). A couple of details (besides the color, obviously) are speculative: the maxilla is lost in known specimens, so I've based its shape on related species, and the position of the nares is unknown, so I put them on the prefrontal where there are some grooves of unknown function. Cenomanian of Lebanon. Pencil and ink on medium-toothed paper.