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Gulf Coast Box Turtle

Gulf Coast Box Turtle line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Gulf Coast Box Turtle full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Gulf Coast Box Turtle was completed on 8.14.2010. Turtles are some of my favorite subject, and box turtles especially. I've drawn most of the North American species & subspecies of Terrapene as well as the Chinese Box Turtle. Something about the skin and carapace of the turtle lends itself well to the medium of pen and ink. My goal is to always make the subject 'pop' off the page, so with the use of highlights on the shell I think that works pretty well here. The drawing is based on a photo by Jake Scott.

Information about the Gulf Coast Box Turtle:

The Gulf Coast Box Turtle is a largest of the sub-species of North American Box Turtles. These reptiles have a high-domed shell that can grow to be 8 inches long. As the name implies, this turtle is found along the Gulf of Mexico from the panhandle of Florida to the eastern part of Texas, often sharing environments with other species of box turtles. They tend to be found in and around estuaries, swamps never straying too far from shallow permanent bodies of water. They are sometimes kept as pets.