My next ecosystem illustration in my series is a shoreline!

I started out with a large piece of Arches watercolor hot press 12 in. x 16 in. paper and painted a shoreline background.

I added details with colored pencils.

And then I added bits of paper to figure out what size to draw the wildlife.

I painted shore birds and shells on another piece of the same watercolor paper.

Before cutting them out, I took a photo, brought them into Photoshop and cleaned up each bird and seashell into a separate motif so I can make a new pattern with this theme.

Finally, I placed each motif on the shoreline background with a piece of foam tape to give them a 3D effect.

This is becoming a series so stay tuned for the next habitat illustration!