Pipefish, snake pricklebacks and eelgrass

A Snake Pipefish peeks around the eelgrass. 

I was drawn to the elegance of the Giant White Plumed Anemone, of course. And the flamboyant purple sea star and the delicate pink flowerlike sea urchin. They are all so dramatically beautiful. However, one of the most memorable moments of my visit to the aquariums inside the Breazeale Interpretive Center at Padilla Bay was when I discovered the elongated head of a seahorse on what looked like a strand of eelgrass. I learned that the pipefish isn't a type of seahorse but rather a sub family of small fish. They do belong to the same family though and the males carry their young much the same as seahorses do.  Can you see mine emerging at the left center of eelgrass, with his snout highlighted against the white anemone?

An enchanting little prickleback did his army crawl with his fins to investigate my mini palette.
I was with the Anacortes Sketchers on a sunny, 68 degree midwinter's day at Padilla Bay. 

Sharing Our Work at Breazeale Interpretive Center

See my previous posts and more accounts of this wonderful experience:
Sketching Bay View, Anacortes Sketchers

Ed views sketches of his garden

"You touch the wet paper like this....see what happens?"

Completed Sketch Pages

I felt that my quick 20 minute sketch on location yesterday at Ed Epp's garden needed more on the page. Here is how it looked on location. Here is how it looks after bringing it home and doing some more "thinking with my watercolors".

Further exploration of warm and cool reds

I got a better image by scanning the page and tweaking the colors a tiny bit with my watercolors.