1 800 913-7906
Accurate drawings of various species of sharks and ray; Great White Shark, Tiger Shark, Manta Ray, reef sharks, hammerheads, Nurse Shark, Whale Shark and other types of cartilaginous fish. All illustrations are hand drawn and expertly rendered. Most illustrations are available in both line art and full color. High quality prints made on acid-free archival paper are available of all drawings in the gallery. If you do not see the shark or ray you're looking for please contact the artist to make a suggestion. Custom illustrations of specific animals can be ordered as well. For more information and pricing please call 1 (800) 913-7906 or send an email to the artist.
The wildlife drawings are also available for stock art illustration.
The mystery of sharks is probably what drives a lot of my enthusiasm for illustrating them. Something about their design - so perfectly sculpted by evolution - and of course the primal fear we all have of them, as no other animal in the ocean can cause such fear and dread. Another key element is the amazing diversity and size of the shark, from harmless diminutive sharks that prowl the sea bottoms, to the open ocean hunters like the Great White and to the massive, but benign, Whale Shark. Rays too, ever since I encounter a small school of them in the waters off Hawaii, have held a fascination with me for many years. I add a new shark or ray every few months, and at the moment I don't have any immediate plans to draw anything to add to the image galleries. But if you have a suggestions I'd like to hear it. Please email me!
Sharks are a predatory fish that can be encountered in nearly every part of the world's oceans. These members of the class Chondrichthyes do not have bones, but rather have cartilaginous skeletons in their streamline bodies. Their teeth therefore are embedded in the gums, and over the course of a lifetime are replaced over and over. They are an ancient species and can be traced back about 420 million years ago. There are about 440 different species of sharks alive today, the smallest being the dwarf laternshark (about 7 inches long) and the massive whale shark which can grow to an astonishing 40 feet. Most sharks are exclusively saltwater although occasionally some species can venture into freshwater or brackish water. There is a famous incident in 1926 in which a Great White Shark, for reasons unknown, heading upstream many miles into a river in New Jersey where it attacked and killed a number of humans. But the vast majority of sharks pose little or no threat to humans. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell. Some species are able to detect blood in as little as one part per million in seawater.
Rays and skates belong to the superorder of Batoidea, which includes the following orders: Torpediniformes, Pristiformes, Rajiformes and Myliobatiformes. They are very closely related to sharks, with more than 500 different species living today. Both rays and skates have flat bodies and are cartilaginous - which mean they have no bones. Their gill slits are are under their pectoral fins on the underside of the fish and the eyes are on the top. Most batoids are found on the sea floor and in several different geographical regions such as coastal waters, kelp forests and coral reefs, although some species are found in very deep waters at about 10,000 feet (3,000 m) Very few live in the open ocean, but there are some like the massive manta ray. A majority of batoids live in saltwater or brackish water, but there are freshwater species living the tropical and subtropical rivers and streams. Most rays and skates have powerful teeth that can crush their prey, which is usually small mollusks or crustaceans like clams and snails. Some prey on fish and the largest of the batoids - the manta ray - feed on plankton.
