Ana Sofia Correia - Long snout Seahorse

Nombre y apellidos: Ana Sofia Correia

País: Portugal 

Redes sociales: @anasfreckles

Título de la obra: Long snout Seahorse

Especie o elemento: Hippocampus guttulatus 

Categoría: Ilustración Naturalista

Técnicas utilizadas: Watercolor and colored pencils

Inteligencia artificial: No.

Tamaño: 21×29,7 cm

Año de creación: 2025

Descripción:

It's a long-snouted seahorse grasping onto seagrass along the Portuguese coast.

I selected this seahorse as my subject due to its endangered status, primarily attributed to pollution and overfishing, which often leads to its sale as a souvenir. This piece was developed as a culminating project for an illustration course and with the intent of showcasing an original artwork in exhibitions.

I compiled a "seahorse composite" from various individual frames, meticulously selecting each component to highlight specific anatomical features. The head was chosen to emphasize its elongated snout, the body positioned to showcase its brood pouch, and the dorsal and caudal fins were made clearly visible. The tail was depicted in a prehensile action, grasping a piece of aquatic vegetation or small algae.

Following this compilation, I rendered the image on watercolor paper using watercolor paints. Subsequently, I applied oil-based and wax-based colored pencils to enhance details and introduce greater depth. Finally, titanium white watercolor and a Posca pen were utilized to incorporate the white spots.