Check out my new habitat illustration – Tree Canopy! I wanted to evoke a tree canopy teeming with wildlife in a playful and artistic way.

I did this illustration similar to my previous ones, with a watercolor background that is a gentle gradient of blues to a warm glow, depicting the sky at dawn or dusk.

And then I added lots of collage elements, beginning with a cut out of a gnarly oak tree canopy.

The big oak tree is centrally placed, with thick, textured brown branches extending outward and upward, with clusters of green oak leaves and acorns and touches of fall color here are there.

Throughout the tree, you will also find woodpeckers, a blue jay, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, several crows, a hawk, and owl, a squirrel or two, a chipmunk, even a raccoon and squirrel hiding in their hollows. Two monarch butterflies flutter by.

This piece is three-dimensional full of detailed flora and fauna, beautifully captures the rich ecosystem of a temperate forest during fall, inviting viewers to explore every corner of the scene. Similar to the rest of my series of habitats, this composition balances naturalistic detail and biodiversity with a whimsical, storybook-like charm.

I encourage you to visit my other habitats in this series:

Under the Sea, The Nature Preserve, Marsh, Shoreline, Marsh Wetlands, Stargazing and Woodlands Map.