The Nature Preserve illustration

Nature Preserve Illustration by Terri Wilhelm

August 19, 2025August 19, 2025 | terriaw

Welcome to another habitat illustration in my series!

This illustration of a nature preserve—created using a blend of watercolor, colored pencils and collage techniques—presents a vibrant, lively forest scene full of detailed textures and diverse wildlife. This was inspired by a recent hike I did in The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor where we saw these wonderful creatures in this beautiful habitat!

The scene centers around a gently winding stream that flows around and through lush green meadows and a dense forest in the background with flora and fauna collage elements giving a slightly raised, 3D effect.

I included a mix of conifers and deciduous trees, added grasses, small shrubs, grasses, flowers and mushrooms to fill the forest floor. I also added rocks and ripples in the stream to create depth, a turtle hanging out on a fallen log and a frog leaping.

The composition is teeming with wildlife, each animal individually cut and pasted, giving a slightly raised, three-dimensional effect, from an egret wading at the water’s edge, a deer standing nearby, a mink scurrying across a fallen log covered with mushrooms, two wild turkey roaming a grassy area, a blue jay in flight, a woodpecker clinging to a tree, a monarch and dragonfly hovering above the water, and owl perched high in the tree.

The soft watercolor textures, three-dimensional collage elements, flowing transitions and natural color palette create a whimsical, handcrafted charm reminiscent of children’s book illustrations or educational posters.

I wanted to convey a scene of layered details of a healthy, diverse forest habitat, leaving the viewer with a peaceful experience to discover this ecological richness.

Check out my other illustrations in this eco system series: Woodlands Map, Marsh Wetlands, Shoreline, and a Marsh.

Stay tuned for the next one in this series!

Greetings from Wisconsin!

Wisconsin Kayaking postcard by Terri Wilhelm

July 27, 2025 | terriaw

I’ve wanted to illustrate a set of postcards from Wisconsin to highlight the beautiful outdoors and seasons we have. This set of four showcases the summer season. I used watercolor paper, watercolor paints and colored pencils for the details.

I started with our fabulous waterways and woods.

Wisconsin trail postcard by Terri Wilhelm

Hiking and kayaking are two of my favorite things to do.

Wisconsin Devils Lake postcard by Terri Wilhelm

We get a full four seasons here so I’ll have to paint another set highlighting fall and winter. Happy summer all!

Marsh Illustration

July 14, 2025July 13, 2025 | terriaw

I’m excited to share another new illustration piece to add to my portfolio and the next one in my series of habitats – it’s a Marsh Collage!

Instead of doing a sketch first, I made a tiny version using the Hahnemuhle Agave Watercolor 8 x 10.5 cm pad as an experiment, just playing around one night.

I liked it so much I decided to make a larger version. I

illustrated the marsh background on a large piece of Arches hot press watercolor paper with watercolor and colored pencils.

And then I illustrated the wildlife on separate paper, cut them out and taped them into the landscape with foam double-sided tape to give them a more 3D look.

Click here to check out my first one – a marsh wetlands and here to see my second one in the series – the shoreline. Stay tuned for the next habitat illustration in this series.

Contact me to hire me for similar work!

Shoreline Collage Illustration

June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 | terriaw

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.

Shoreline Bird Illustrations by Terri Wilhelm

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!

Lunchbox Tiny Art

June 12, 2025June 12, 2025 | terriaw

I’ve been making a little illustration on a tiny piece of paper for the past few months that I slip into my husband’s lunchbox on Friday mornings.

Sometimes the illustration includes a little encouragement or motivation to get through the day.

Sometimes it’s just a fun little story.

I found a pack of watercolor cards in my stash that are about the same size as a standard business card, a perfect canvas to whip up a little illustration and remind him he’s not alone.

I’m on a roll of bringing positivity to the world so I’m going to keep going!

Wouldn’t these tiny illustrations make great greeting cards or a deck of inspiration cards?! Hit the subscribe button to see more of what’s to come.

Bird Nerd

May 6, 2025May 5, 2025 | terriaw

I discovered recently that I’m a bird nerd! I’ve always love birdwatching, especially the challenges of trying to get a photo and identifying them.

Often times, they move too quickly to get a photo. So I’m happy to be able to illustrate them.

I recently saw a ruby-crowned kinglet in my yard for the first time. I wasn’t familiar with this bird so I loved learning about it by drawing and painting it.

Then decided to turn this into a theme, illustrating migrating birds I’ve only seen passing through, like this white-throated sparrow. I identified them by their high-pitched, piercing whistle.

I’ve only seen a flicker once and would love to see them more. They remind me of a red-bellied woodpecker which I see all the time.

I don’t see Baltimore orioles too often, and usually remember to put out jelly and orange slices a little too late. But I’m grateful I’ve seen then a couple times.

And last, the scarlet tanager which I’ve only seen once in my yard or anywhere. It was quite a thrill!

I used a variety of mixed media, starting with a base of watercolor, then adding details with colored pencils, Neocolor II water soluable pastels, and white ink for highlights.

There are so many birds that I could spend a lifetime watching them and illustrating them!

Marsh Wetlands Collage

Marsh wetlands illustration by Terri Wilhelm

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 | terriaw

I’m so excited to share this new illustration piece I finished in March!

I did some sketching first in my sketchbook to brainstorm ideas and test out different scene compositions and birds.

Then I illustrated the marsh background on a large piece of Arches hot press watercolor paper with watercolor and colored pencils.

I illustrated the birds on a separate sheet and cut them out.

Voila, my first collage illustration!

I started with the idea of illustrating birds since I haven’t focused on that in a while, which led to researching birds that live in a marsh wetlands habitat. I didn’t want to illustrate the birds and then have to do a background around them which led me to the idea of this collage. It turned out even better than my imagination!

I’m on a roll this year completing a bigger illustration project like this (outside of my sketchbook) each month, the Stargazing animals series in January, the Woodlands Map in February, and this Marsh Wetlands in March. Stay tuned for what’s to come in April!

Stargazing

February 3, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

January is always a great month to stargaze – the air is crisp, skies are dark and clear.

I’m excited to share my new illustration series called Stargazing.

I really love how these illustrations turned out. I did them with watercolor, colored pencils and Neo Color II wax pastels on hot press watercolor paper.

I’m planning to order postcards and stickers so far, but there are many other nature gift shop-oriented products out there, like this adorable zipper pouch.

ZipperPouch-StargazingAnimals-TerriWilhelm

Remember to look up at the night sky and keep dreaming!

Woodlands Advent Calendar

February 2, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

I had a lot of fun making this Woodlands Advent Calendar in Melanie Chadwick’s class.

Woodland Advent Calendar by Terri Wilhelm

The front piece is a tree with doors cut into it for each day. I painted the background with watercolor and the tree with colored pencils and Neocolor II wax pastels.