Animals and Birds - Ralph F. Wilson Watercolors

I got interested in turtles when reading a book on turtles to Evangeline a couple of weeks before Christmas. This painting depicts the turtle, a cold-blooded animal, emerging from a lake to bask in the sun to warm its body for several hours before foraging. It may repeat this behavior two or three more times in the day. 181220. Watercolor, 14" x 10". In a private collection: A. Roberts.

What interested me originally was the Umbrella Thorn Acacia trees seen in the distance. I saw some of their acacia cousins in Kenya, and consider this tree the iconic tree shape of the savannas of Africa. My resource materials combined a couple of photos. Pictured is a family of the Masai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) which populates central and southern Kenya as well as Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 19,452 ft., looms in the distance. It is an extinct volcano. 181201. Watercolor, 20" x 14".

I saw these geese at the small lake at Auburn Regional Park in late April, where half a dozen goose families sat on the grass to the side of the lake. Most couples had perhaps 5 or 6 goslings. But then a family with 19 goslings entered the water, shepherded by the goose and gander, out into the lake together. I don't think this goose laid all 19 eggs, since a typical clutch is two to eight offspring. Perhaps some goslings from other mothers imprinted on them when they hatched. But this family stirs in me feelings of danger, of vulnerability, and especially hope for each of these youngin's. They're family, with parents watching out for them, perhaps in the way God watches out for us and teaches us to swim in deep waters. This painting won an Award of Merit in the WASH Open "Go with the Flow" watercolor show at Sacramento Fine Arts, September 4-30, 2018. It was also exhibited at the Placer Arts Council's "New Beginnings" show at the Hacker Lab, Rocklin, from 26 January to 23 May, 2019. 180505. Watercolor, 20" x 13".

In May 2020 I published a series of 24 devotional messages focusing on the Conquering Lamb of Revelation. Here's the watercolor I painted for the book cover. 200502. Original uncropped size 10" x 14".

I've been painting a series of animals that appear on the walls of my granddaughters' rooms in Auburn. This Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla) abounds in our area. This is from a photo I found searching. Part of my 31 Paintings in July Challenge. 210703. Watercolor, 14" x 10".

My oldest granddaughter is interested in all things animal -- including insects. Here's a Seven-spot Ladybird (or Ladybug, Coccinella septempunctata, the most common ladybird in Europe, and expanding in the American eastern seaboard. Part of my 31 Paintings in July Challenge. 210712. Watercolor, 14" x 10".

When I asked my granddaughter what kind of animal I should paint for her, she responded: Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor). So I looked for a dramatic photo from which to paint -- not having my own pet boa -- and found a particular menacing one. Part of my 31 Paintings in July Challenge. 210716. Watercolor, 14" x 10".

One of the resident butterflies where I live in Loomis, California, is the Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini). Here's my take on it. Part of my 31 Paintings in July series. 220712. Watercolor and ink, 10" x 7".

On a photo day with my son Dan in mid-December 2022, I watched this Great Egret (Ardea alba) standing in shallow water at the edge of Tomales Bay near Inverness, California, waiting for a fish to spear. None appeared this time, and he eventually flew away with his great wing strokes. I tried to capture the dancing waters behind the egret with various colors of blue horizontal lines. 221223. Watercolor, 10" x 14".