Illustrations of two of Madagascar’s hallucinogenically beautiful lobsters, Panulirus ornatus and Panulirus longipes, for an article written by my friend Steve Long.
I met Steve through SEED Madagascar where he was consulting on a sustainable fishing project, Project Oratsimba. My first illustration of a lobster was to accompany an article about how Oratsimba drew comparisons with SEED’s beekeeping project.
Embarrassingly, this first study was of a plastic lobster complete with cartoon pincers that I found in the glorified beach hut where Steve was living in in Fort Dauphin. Little did I know that the spiny lobsters of Madagascar don’t have pincers, an anatomical inaccuracy that I may never live down if I keep consulting him on ways to translate science through art. For his exceptional advice and sharp humour, it’s a price I’m happy to pay.
“To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.”
Thank you William Arthur Ward, and Steve
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