Clownfish and Anemone

When I guide tourist on a snorkeling tour in Raja Ampat islands, Tambrauw coast and Manokwari beach of West Papua, I will always look for clownfish. This small fish usually lives in a small colony of anemone. Because a sting from an anemone is harmful to other fish, clownfish that have developed certain resistance on his body makes anemone as its home. Anemone provides protection and the clownfish provide food from the leftovers that it releases. So, the fish is also called anemonefish.

I usually approach anemonefish at depths of 2 to 10 meters below sea surface. With an underwater camera, I take a picture of this beautiful fish. Some anemonefish will hide deeper inside the tentacles of the anemone but other species tend to chase me in order to drive me away from their territory.
Today I made an illustration of this marine animal and uploaded it into my Redbubble account. So, its prints are now available on such products as pillows, clock, sticker, studio pouch, drawstring bag, and a lot more. Please, click this link anemone clownfish to buy some of them.
If you are interested in traveling to West Papua province of Indonesia to enjoy snorkeling over pristine coral reef, you could hire me as your guide. The snorkeling tours can be combined with hiking, birding and wildlife watching tour in the rainforest of Tambrauw mountains or Manokwari. Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Also read:

• Baby Turtle Crawling to the Open Sea
• Dolphins jumping out of the waves

Surgeonfish and Coral Reef

Tonight I upload another drawing again into my Redbubble account. It is the picture of Surgeonfish in the coral reef. I only added another species of fish to the previous illustration. The new fish is Convict Surgeonfish. There are some hard corals and water-plants in the new artwork. So, there are now two fish in the picture, i.e.: Striped-Surgeonfish and Convict Surgeonfish.

Surgeonfish in Coral Reef

I frequently see these fish and hundreds of other species when I guide tourists on sightseeing, and snorkeling tours in Raja Ampat, Tambrauw and Manokwari. To take pictures of the marine life, I bring a small action camera. It is a Brica B-Pro5 Alpha edition. The camera is not for professional underwater photographer. But it is good enough to show how an underwater coral reef environment looks like. I will buy a better camera such as Fujifilm XQ2 and its waterproof housing. I hope it will give higher quality photographs which I could study as my reference for creating more artworks.l
If you are interested in taking a snorkeling, birding, and sightseeing tour with me in West Papua, you could contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
If you just want to enjoy my artworks, please, support this blog by buying some products in the form of t-shirt, mugs, spiral notebook, or iPhone/ Samsung cases, please, visit my online artshop in Redbubble under this name: Tropical Art

Also read:

• Swimming with Manta
• Two Dolphins at Sea

Striped Surgeonfish

Last month I guided a Dutch lady for two weeks. We went to Waigeo island Raja Ampat and Sapormangganauw beach of Tambrauw. We visited the nearby beach for snorkeling during the trip. We also did hiking in the forest to watch paradise birds. It was nice to have some fun during the trip. We saw this beautiful Striped Surgeonfish at depths of between 1 to 6 meters. Using my underwater action camera Brica B-Pro5 Alpha Edition, I took pictures of the fish and the marine life as a whole. There are also a lot of other fish such as butterflyfish, black-tip shark, and grouper. Below is the picture of Striped Surgeonfish.

After completing my two weeks trip, I decided to make some drawings based on what I saw. The first one was Frigatebird. I uploaded it in my previous post in this blog. Now I upload the Striped Surgeonfish in the form of a digital illustration. I created it using Autodesk Sketchbook. I also uploaded the same artwork to my digital artshop in redbubble. You could click this link: Tropical Fish Art to buy the following digital illustration in the form of T-Shirt, mugs, throw pillow or drawstring bag. In addition to this fish artwork, there are other drawings as well such as orchid, whaleshark, birds of paradise, butterflies, and human figure.

Striped Surgeonfish is a tropical fish that lives in coral reef environment. I often see it when I guide tourist on a snorkeling, and freediving tour in Raja Ampat, and Tambrauw regency. Its body is decorated with blue and yellow lines. Its tail is blue.

Striped Surgeonfish (Acanthurus lineatus)

Striped Surgeonfish Art

I work as tourist guide in my daily life but I like drawing a lot. While guiding tourist in the forest or at the beach, I see wildlife which later will become inspirarations for my next art projects.
If you are interested in art and wildlife tour and want me as your guide while traveling to West Papua province of Indonesia. Please, contact me (Leo Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or email to: leororing@gmail.com

Frigatebird - The Symbol of Freedom

I haven't made any drawings for quite long. After traveling to Raja Ampat islands and coastal area of Tambrauw, I decided to make more drawings again.
This time I draw Frigatebird. This is a sea bird that I often see when I conduct tours around the tropical karst and open sea of West Papua. The bird is very big compared to other land birds. Its plumage is black but has got some white underparts especially on its chest, belly, and some parts of the wings.
Sometimes frigatebird flies alone but most frequently they fly in large group. Frigatebirds could fly to distant ocean without having to perch on a tree or a rocky island for taking a rest. This bird really symbolizes freedom.

Frigatebird Flying Free T-shirt
by tropicalart

The wingspan of this bird could reach more than 1.5 meters. They look like kites. They also do circle flying when they look for fish. Once they spot schooling fish on sea surface, they will dive to catch the fish and then quickly glide up again with the prey on their bills.
To watch frigatebirds, I go to the beach where I could see open sea and then wait for them. They usually appear in the mornings and in late afternoons soaring high in the sky.
I used to take pictures of the frigatebirds when I go to Tambrauw regency. The coastal area of Tambrauw is very beautiful and good for birdwatching, swimming, snorkeling and fishing.
Please, order the above frigatebird drawing in the form of t-shirt if you are interested to wear it as a symbol of freedom, creativity and love of nature. Just click the link provided under the photograph. The artwork is also available in my Redbubble artshop: Frigatebird Flying Free in the Sky
Interested in taking a birding tour in West Papua with me as your guide? Please, contact me by email to: leororing@gmail.com or whatsapp to: +6281332245180

Also read:

• Male Lesser Birds of Paradise
• Lesser Birds of Paradise (watercolor on paper)

Vector Drawing of Red Bird of Paradise

This is the picture of Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra) that lives in tropical rainforest of Raja Ampat particularly in Waigeo, Gam and Batanta islands. There are two species of Birds of Paradise in these islands: Red BOP and Wilson's Bird of Paradise. Their population is shrinking because of continuous hunting, conversion of forest into human settlements, road, and monoculture plantation.

The development of ecotourism in Raja Ampat brings positive impacts to local economy and encourage local people to preserve tropical rainforest and protect paradise birds. Visitors who go there support local homestay owners, boat drivers and guides. With this alternative income generation that is environmentally friendly to rainforest and marine ecosystem, wildlife in Raja Ampat gets better chance to survive in this century.

Vector Illustration of Red Bird of Paradise

To raise awareness about the importance of protecting this paradise bird, I have created a digital drawing of the bird. It is now available in various Redbubble products such as T-Shirt, iPhone and Samsung Galaxy case, pillow, mugs, tote bag, sticker and spiral notebook. To get more info about these products, please, see this link: Red Bird of Paradise Vector Art

Also read:

• A sketch of Red Bird of Paradise
• Male Red Bird of Paradise (digital sketch)