Male Lesser Birds of Paradise

I have just uploaded this vector drawing into my Redbubble online store that I created using Inkscape. It is a male Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor). The bird lives in tropical rainforest of New Guinea. As a tourist guide, I organize hiking and birding tours in the jungle of Klasow valley and Arfak mountains to watch the birds of paradise, cuscus possum and other wild animals that make the tropical rainforest of West Papua as their natural habitat. If you are interested in taking hiking and birding tour in the forest of Klasow valley of Sorong regency of West Papua - Indonesia, please contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Male Lesser Birds of Paradise

Male Lesser Birds of Paradise have to perform courtship dance to attract his female birds for mating. This dance is usually performed early in the mornings and in the afternoons before sunset. The dance performance has been an interesting tourist attraction. I have guided hundreds of nature lovers and birdwatchers on a hiking and birding trip in Arfak mountains for visitors who want to watch the paradise birds. The duration of the rainforest tour is usually between 3 to 4 days. We will stay in tents or the villagers houses (depending on the location that we are heading to). 

Birds of paradise and other birds are the guardian of the rainforest. They disperse seeds from the fruits that they eat throughout the forest. Tropical rainforest ecosystem is very important in our life because it absorbs CO2 gases which we emit every day from cars, motorcycles, and stoves. At the same time, the rainforest releases Oxygen which we breathe every second.

Now you could order this digital illustration as printed materials on various Redbubble products such as T-shirts, hoodie, iPhone case, and duvet cover or even Drawstring bag and spiral notebook. Please, click this Lesser Birds of Paradise Redbubble for more info. 

Verandah of Balinese House

I used to stay for around two and a half months in Bali several years ago. I was in Ubud and liked the town very much. It was an opportunity for me to see Balinese art and culture. I spent most of my time visiting traditional handicraft, art museums and painting galleries.
It was easy to find art supplies store in Ubud. So, I decided to buy an A4 size sketchbook and began drawing the veranda of the house where I stayed. Balinese houses were unique compared. They had carvings on the wooden pillars that support the ceiling and roof of the house. The walls of the house consisted of concrete materials and red bricks with some relief and carvings.
One thing that I like the most about Balinese house is that it is surrounded by green trees. This is a good concept of eco-living.

The Veranda of a Balinese House in Ubud

I could understand that Balinese life cannot be separated from art. Art has been an integral part of their cultural and religious activities. It is not surprising if we see that millions of tourists like to visit Bali every year.

Lesser Birds of Paradise in Watercolor

This is the picture of Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor) that I created using Derwent Watercolor Pencils. The birds live in forest of New Guinea (the largest tropical island in the world). I watch the birds while I guide tourists or birdwatchers on a hiking and birding tour in Klasow valley of Sorong regency or lower montane forest of Arfak mountains in West Papua region.
If you are interested in taking a rainforest hiking and birding tour in Klasow valley of Sorong regency of West Papua - Indonesia, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send message to my whatsapp number +6281332245180.
Click the following picture to see my portfolio in Redbubble:

Paradise birds and other birds play very important role on the ecosystem of rainforest. They disperse seeds from fruits which they eat to all corners of the forest.
I introduce ecotourism in this region to economically empower the indigenous people and at the same time preserve tropical rainforest environment.
This watercolor artwork can now be ordered as printed materials in a lot of products on my Tropical Art Store. One of them is the following kitchen towel decorated with the painting:

Paradise Birds in Watercolor Hand Towel by tropicalart

You can also have a look at my Redbubble store for Paradise Birds Watercolor Products

Sketch of a Woman Sitting Cross-legged

Human is the most difficult subject to draw. Why is that? Because not all of experienced artists can draw human figure with balanced or accurate proportions. If we draw a tree, scenery of the beach and mountains, the mistakes that we make in the form of branches, waves of the sea won't be easily recognized by people who see the artwork. It wil be different if the subject which we draw is human figure. If one of the legs is shorter, or the neck is longer than usual people who see the drawing can easily identify it.
That's the reason why artists need a lot of practices to achieve an expertise that is adequate to draw human with good proportions.
Below is the drawing of a woman in sitting cross-legged position. In the beginning, I made the sketch of the woman as a whole from her head to toes. I drew a lot of lines and erase them many times before I could determine that the proportion of the drawing is well balanced.

A Young Lady Sitting Cross-Legged

After that I did some hatchings and coloring all over her nude body. Although she is fully naked, I did not expose parts of her body that are sensitive. Let the viewers imagine how those parts behind the folding hands and crossed legged look like in their minds.
I don't want to make full color drawing or painting of this naked lady. This is only an ordinary sketch of human figure that I create for the purpose of study. Yes, I study human forms using pensil lines. If there are still parts of her body that are not perfect, please, understand that I am still in the learning process.
An artist who can make very good sketches has got strong foundation to draw or paint anything. And that's the uniqueness of visual art.

Hibiscus Flower in Watercolor

Here is a small watercolor painting of pink Hibiscus flower that I made using Derwent Watercolor Pencils. I saw it when I guided a British student who spent two weeks trekking in the jungle to study tropical flowers. At first, I did not give special attention to this flower because it was so common every where in my town. Later I found that I had never made any drawings or watercolour paintings of hibiscus. I decided to make a little sketch of the flower using my 2B Staedtler pencil but later I gave more color on it.

Pink Hibiscus - watercolor on paper

This little painting attracted the attention of someone in the USA who saw it in my tropical art Redbubble online store. She ordered it and this hibiscus flower became my first design sold in my Redbubble Tropical Art online store. I still don't know who bought it but I hope that she likes the artwork.

Hibiscus Flower T-shirt

There are a lot of products in the online store that need transparent background. To meet the demand, I have to remove the background of the digital version of the painting using Adobe Photoshop. The following is the link in my Redbubble account for readers who are interested in ordering t-shirts, cell phone cases/ skins, travel mug or totebags and spiral notebook: Pink Hibiscus Flower

Swimming with Manta

Manta is a very big fish. It looks like a bird. I saw it a few months ago when I was guiding some Czech tourists in Raja Ampat. There is a place in the open sea where manta fish like to gather to clean their bodies. People call the place Manta Point.  When we were at the point, we could feel sea current in the area. So, we had to swim continuously to keep our position above it.
If you have never seen manta in its natural habitat, please, look at the following sketch of the Manta Fish with a women freediver.

Cleaning Station
Manta "glide" or "fly" around the place while their bodies are being cleaned from tiny marine creatures that attach to them by small fish that live in the nearby rocks. The small fish eat the "dirts" whereas the mantas get free cleaning service.
It is a kind of mutualism symbiosis between the giant fish and the small fish.

Watercolored version of the Manta sketch

I work as tourist guide in West Papua, I often accompany tourists in the jungle to do wildlife watching and at sea to enjoy snorkeling. That's why you will see that most of my drawings or sketches in this blog are derived from nature as the source of my art inspiration.
Ecotourism
Ecotourism that I promote helps local people generate some income by working as cooks, porters, rangers and boat drivers and at the same time preserve the marine and rainforest environment.
Vector Graphic
I also like to make vector drawing that I develop from my sketches. The drawing below is not exactly the same as my sketch above but it reflects the same idea about how big the mantas are compared to human as represented by the freediver.

This vector drawing is now available as printed materials in Redbubble. One of them is the t-shirt below:

Swimming with Manta Ray T-shirt

Two Dolphins in Open Sea

Today, most people travel to distant places by airplanes. I live in a region where there are a lot of islands. So, I prefer to visit the islands by ship or boat. When I walk along the outer aisle of the main deck I seldom see dolphins. They swim in groups. Passengers are happy when they see the fish jumping or swimming very close to the bow of the ship. Dolphins like to "escort" fast moving ship.
I used to see dolphins at surf spot in Cape Bakaro of Manokwari city. They are still considered as the best wavesurfers compared to human.

Because I like drawing, I consider dolphins as a good inspiration for my artwork. To make the drawing, I first make a sketch using a graphite pencil. After that, I color it using Derwent Watercolour Pencils.
Now the drawing is available online as printed artworks on various Redbubble products from iPhone and iPad Dolphin cases to high quality canvas print which you could see below:

Two Dolphins in the Open Sea Canvas Print

Whaleshark Watching

In my previous post, I said that whaleshark watching has become a popular tourist attraction. As a tourist guide I can give some information about where to go to see whaleshark. There are to sites in West Papua where you can see or swim with whaleshark. The famous one is in Cendrawasih bay whereas the second on is in Triton bay of Kaimana regency. Both area located in West Papua. So, if you have time and money, you can fly to Jakarta city (the capital of Indonesia) and then by domestic airline go to Nabire where you can continue your trip to Kwatisore to swim with whaleshark.

Swimming with whalesharks in Cendrawasih bay of West Papua

If you have already seen it and need a souvenir or gift, I can recommend some products that are printed with whaleshark illustration. I created that illustration using inkscape and uploaded the file into Redbubble online store. Now you can buy it printed on various products from t-shirts to iphone cases. Here is the link: whaleshark watching.
To give you an idea of how it will look like when you buy it printed on t-shirt, please, have a look at the following picture:

Whaleshark Tank Top

I hope that you will be interested in buying the tank top or other products with the same vector graphic.

Swimming with Whaleshark

Most people think that sharks are dangerous animals. Yes, it is true. But, there are sharks that are not dangerous such as walking shark (also called wobbegong). Well, I personally used to swim in the coral reef area of Raja Ampat where I saw black tip sharks. They are not dangerous as long as we don't provoke an attack to the fish.
Whaleshark Watching
There is also another species of fish called whaleshark (Rhincodon typus). This fish is not dangerous to human being because it eats small bait fish called ikan puri. In recent years, swimming or snorkeling with whaleshark has been a favorite tourist attraction particularly in Cendrawasih bay and Bitsyari bay of West Papua. Unfortunately, tourists swim too close to the fish. To respect this marine animal, tourists should not swim in front of its mouth. Whaleshark needs free movement in the water so that it can feed on the fish.
If you are curious about how big the fish is, please, have a look at the following vector illustration which I made using Inkscape.

Whaleshark an a swimmer

Vector Art
This vector graphic drawing is available on various products manufactured by zazzle at this link: whaleshark products.
I also created the drawing to raise awareness among all of us about the importance of preserving marine environment by reducing the use of plastics. When we are at sea, we often see used plastic totebag, diapers, and bottles floating on the surface of the water. A lot of fish have died after eating them which they thought as fish or jellyfish.

Swimming with Whaleshark T Shirt

You could support this art blog by buying my drawing at the following link:

• Red T-Shirt Swimming with Whaleshark

Flying Fish the Real Exocet

I like traveling by ship and boat. I often walk along the outer aisle of the main deck to see the beautiful scenery of the islands, the beach and the sea. Sometimes dolphins in a group of ten to twenty swim near the boats and jump out of the water.
There are also small fish that fly low above the surface of the water. They are called flying fish. They think the big ship is their predator. So, they try to avoid it by flying away from it.
Name of Missile
Flying fish in French language is called Exocet. But it is not only give to fish but also to an anti-ship missile. The missile became famous after it successfuly used by Argentine navy to sank British warship HMS Sheffield during Falklands/ Malvinas war.
Now Exocet as a missile is more famous than as the name for flying fish.
Flying Fish
If you have never seen flying fish in its natural habitat, just look at the following drawing:

Flying Fish

The illustration above can be purchased printed on various products from my portfolio of artworks in my Redbubble store
Among the products that have got the Exocet printed on it, my favorite one is: the coffee mug. The blue color of the sea and the dark color of the fish is a perfect combination for the white color of the mug. Please, buy one below at Redbubble online if you also like it.

Racerback Tanktop