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Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Sperm Whale full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Sperm Whale was completed on 4.13.2010. Whales are always a little more difficult, because often there's distortions in the photos and the coloring can be off. I studied several photos (including some images of beached whales to get the skin color correct) along with some existing drawings. The drawing foundation's lay in a tabled project for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Information about the Sperm Whale:

The Sperm Whale is a marine mammal and a member of the order of Cetaceans. It is a toothed whale and has the distinction of having the largest brain of any animal as well as being the largest toothed animal. The name comes from a substance in it's head called spermaceti, which is milky-white and waxy. A large male or "bull" can grow up to nearly 70 feet long. The Sperm Whale feeds on squid and fish, which they find diving down as deep as nearly two miles. The many battles the animal faces when feeding is displayed in the scars along the mouth and head areas left by the tentacles of it's prey. These mammals are very long-lived and can be up to 70 years.