Dolphins Jumping out of the Waves

I made this drawing using charcoal pencil. At first, it was only a sketch of dolphins that were jumping out of the waves. It is only a black and white drawing. Later, I considered of enhancing the artwork in digital format. So, I shot the drawing by my camera and opened it in Adobe Photoshop. I added dark and light blue colors on the waves and gave more contour lines to imitate the waves.

Dolphins Jumping Out of the Waves - the basic sketch is charcoal on paper

I often see dolphins in the open sea when I travel by ship or boat. Dolphins usually travel in a group of at least two to perhaps twenty fish or more. They like to come closer to the boat and even swim near the hull or bow of the boat. It is a great attraction to watch dolphins in the middle of the ocean and not in an aquarium.
Now, the above drawing is available in the form of luggage tags, stickers, mugs and etc.

Dolphins Jumping out of the Water Bag Tag by tropicalart

Encountering Dolphins in the Middle of the Sea
One day, I was returning to Sorong town from a snorkeling and island tour in Raja Ampat. I and 4 Czech tourists, as well as 3 boat crews were in a speed boat moving fast in the middle of the sea. Suddenly we saw a big group of dolphins. Some of them approached the boat and swim in parallel or in the same direction with the boat. Because the tourists were so happy to sea the boat, the driver reduce the speed. Unfortunately, this caused the dolphins to move away from the boat. Based on that experience, next time when we encounter dolphins, I will tell the driver to keep steady speed and direction and not reducing the speed of the boat. By doing this, I hope that we will have longer encounter with dolphins at sea.
I used to make a painting of Two Dolphins using Derwent Watercolour Pencils and Canson paper. The artwork is now in the Netherlands.

Blyth's Hornbill Birds - The Symbol of True Love

Every time I go trekking in the jungle in West Papua, I often see Blyth's Hornbill birds. They are large birds that make New Guinea island and a lot of other islands in the same region as their natural habitat. Blyth's hornbills are large birds, they usually eat fruits from ficus tree, and nutmeg. They will spread the seeds from these birds to all direction of the forest thus expanding the growth of rainforest. When they fly, they create flutter sounds that are created by their wings.

A couple of Blyth's hornbills are considered as the Symbol of True love by some native Papuan tribes who live in the bird's head region of New Guinea. If one of them dies, the one that survives will fly or live forever alone. I create the digital illustration of these Blyth's hornbill birds using Inkscape. My objective is to promote the preservation of tropical rainforest environment to anybody who reads this article.
Now the above digital illustration is available in various kinds of products print on demand products of Redbubble such as t-shirt, tote bags, spiral notebooks, and mugs.
If you are interested in ordering some of them, please, visit the following link:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/leororing/works/16050327-blyths-hornbill-the-symbol-of-true-love

Water Lily from Merauke

Merauke is a town in southern part of West Papua. I went there early this year by airplane and visited several areas of the town including Wasur National Park. While in the park, I saw giant termite nest whose height could reach 3 meters from the ground. Much of the land in Merauke consists of lowland and swamps. That's why I could see various water plants. One the way back to town, I saw the water lily that looks so beautiful.

Back at home, I opened my sketch book and decided to draw and color it. Because the watercolor pencils were not strong enough in depicting the contrast between the light and darker colors, I added Pentel watercolor to the painting. And then I used my Nikon camera to capture the picture. After some adjustment in Adobe Photoshop, finally, I could uploaded it onto my Redbubble portofolio.

White Terrestrial Orchid

Here is another terrestrial orchid whose petals are white. The name of the flower, based on the information on the internet, is Spathoglottis plicata. I made this artwork using Staedtler 2B pencil and Derwent watercolour pencils. As you can see below, I gave black strokes of graphite pencils as the background of the drawing but for the purpose of uploading the image into my redbubble store, I removed its black background using Adobe Photoshop.

It is now available on various products of Zazzle. One of them is the iPhone case presented below:

White Terrestrial Orchid online at redbubble

Terrestrial Pink Orchid Flower

I have just finished drawing a flower. Its a terrestrial orchid called Spathoglottis plicata. I saw it when I went trekking in the jungle near Manokwari. The pink petals of the flower attracted my attention and triggered my desire to make an artwork from it.

For the purpose of uploading it into my Redbubble account, I cut its background using Adobe Photoshop 7. The objective is to enable it to be printed on T-shirts or other products of different colours.
I used Derwent Watercolour pencils during the drawing and "painting" process.  It is only a small painting and I hope that you are interested in purchasing it and my other artworks on various products from my redbubble account presented below.

Black Capped Lory in Watercolor

Title: Black Capped Lory
Size: A4 size paper
Media: Watercolor on paper
Painter: Leo Charles Roring

Here is the watercolor painting of Black Capped Lory (Lorius lory). I saw this bird while I was traveling in Raja Ampat islands. As a tourist guide, I often arrange tours and accompany tourists on various birdwatching and snorkeling trip in West Papua. Some of the destinations are Sorong regency, Tambrauw mountains and Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is a famous place for diving and snorkeling. But the regency is also a nice place for birdwatchers. I saw this bird in Kri island and was attracted to it because of its colorful feather.
I made the watercolor painting of the bird using Derwent Watercolor pencils. I offer the cut out version of this bird in my Redbubble store. It can be bought on various printed products from T-shirts and drawstring bags to iPhone cases and pillows. I hope that you will be interested in buying some of them on the following link: Black Capped Lory Prints

Watercolor painting of Orchid

Here is the watercolor painting of orchid that I created last year. I think it is from Dendrobium family but I don't know its species name. I often see orchid plant in high trees when I guide tourists on trekking or birding tour in the forest of Manokwari or Sorong regency of West Papua.

Orchids are epiphytes or air plants. This is true because most orchids grow in high trees on the junction between a branch and the main trunk of a tree. Their roots tightly cling to the tree and also gather moisture from the surrounding air. There are also species of this plant that grows on the ground taking nutrients from the soil.

Orchid can also be seen as a sensual flower that is beautiful if artistically drawn or painted on canvas or paper. Because I like watercolor, I will make more artworks of orchids and upload them in this blog. 

I also have got the vector version of this painting that I made using Inkscape software. I uploaded it on my zazzle.com tropical art store.

The artwork is available printed on various products from mugs to t-shirt and from mouse pad to adult apron.

For Digital vector: 

Pink Orchid Teapot by tropicalart

For the watercolor print products, please, click the following link:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/leororing/works/16187857-orchid-flower-in-watercolor