Watercolour whales

Did you know that February 16th is World Whale Day?

Humpback whales off the coast of Tonga, Eilanne Dipp (Pexels.com)

World Whale Day is an opportunity to celebrate these magnificent creatures as well as to raise awareness of the threats they face from chemical and noise pollution, loss of habitat and climate change, plus entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes; six of the thirteen great whale species are classed as endangered or vulnerable.

But thriving and healthy whale populations actually benefit nature and people. Whales play a critical role in maintaining ocean health, boosting phytoplankton production, which captures 40% of all CO2 produced and generating over half of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.

To celebrate World Whale Day, I decided to learn how to illustrate a number of whales. I wanted to focus particularly on three species of whale that have been spotted off the Northumberland coast: Orca, Minke and Humpbacks.

To assist me, I watched a Domestika course by Antonia Reyes Montealegre - a Chilean illustrator with a particular fascination with marine animals. The course - Naturalist Illustration Techniques: Whales in Watercolour - has some great tips for exploring drawing and watercolour painting techniques to create realistic whale illustrations.

Collecting references

I first created an inspiration board of images of my different whales, looking at both photographs and different artistic interpretations of the subject.

Practicing form

I then drew some preparatory sketches, paying particular attention to the various anatomy of these different whale types, as well as places of highlight and shadow.

The finished piece

Finally, I created my finished piece using Winsor & Newton Professional watercolours on St Cuthbert's Mill Bockingford Hot Pressed Watercolour paper, finished off with some hand-written name labels.

This piece of original artwork measures 21cm by 29.7cm (A4) and is available to purchase from my website, or you can snap up one of just 10 limited edition signed prints. I will donate 25% of the sale price to Whale and Dolphin Conservation UK the leading charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins.