1 800 913-7906
Illustrations
of various types of toads. All illustrations are hand drawn and expertly
rendered. In the gallery is the American Toad, Cane Toad, Colorado River
Toad, Sonoran Desert Toad, Fire-Bellied Toad, Western Spadefoot Toad,
Woodhouse's Toad, Yosemite
Toad and other species. All 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 salamander,
toad or other amphibian you're looking for please contact the artist to
make a
suggestion.
Custom illustrations of specific toads can be ordered as well. For
more information and pricing please call 1 (800) 913-7906 or send an
email to the artist.
All toad drawings shown are available in both B&W line art versions
and color
The wildlife drawings are also available for
stock art illustration.
Toads
are amazing. Whenever I encounter them, it is always with a sense of awe.
Something about their demeanor seems so stoic and resigned. Of course, that
is merely me projecting onto them traits I believe should be attributed
to them. From growing up in the mid-west, I recall the ponds and streams
being made almost black with their eggs, and after that, their tadpoles.
And now thousands of miles away, I still encounter them reproducing in these
vast numbers. What I find odd, however, is that I never seem to come across
a full grown adult. But when it's breeding season, the banks of the streams
team with countless little toadlets. The American Toad was one of the first
illustrations of an animal I had completed, and my first amphibian. I learned
a lot from creating that image, and I still employ those lessons when I
set about to make another drawing of a toad. There are dozens of species
of toad, and I probably won't be able to draw them all, but if you'd like
to make a suggestions please send me an
email.
Toads are the species of amphibians that fall into the order "Anura." They generally have dry, leathery skin, colored usually dark grayish or brown with external skin glands on the back, neck, and shoulder. While toads and frogs are popularly considered as separate from frogs, there isn't such a distinction made in taxonomy. Unlike frogs, toad have stubby bodies, short legs and are usually dry and they do not have teeth, as frogs do. They are native to everywhere on earth except for Greenland, Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar. Although due to poorly thought out introduction programs (most notably in Australia where Bufo marinus was deliberately introduced) toads have established themselves in ecosystems where they often have a very negative impact on native species. A group of toads is called a "Knot." Despite popular belief, toads do not in any way transmit warts to people through handling. The toad's bumpy skin is believed to help the animal blend into its environment visually by breaking up its outline. Toads are usually nocturnal and spend much of their lives underground in burrows, coming out only to eat and to breed in the spring.
