Have you ever heard of the kaibab squirrel? Until a patron suggested it for a dragon design, I hadn't! They're from a small region on the north rim of the Grand Canyon and aren't found anywhere else. #kaibabsquirrel #squirrel #dragon #artist

Giraffes have been reclassified as having four distinct species instead of a bunch of subspecies, which is awesome for conservation. This dragon's inspired by the masai. :3 #giraffe #dragon #artist

So my first thought when I was given the suggestion "gummy candy dragon" was gummy sharks, or maybe gummy bears... but when given the option to make a pun, I couldn't resist. Now we have a gummy wyrm and I have no regrets. XD What's your favorite gummy candy? #gummywyrm #dragon #artist

The green dragontail butterfly is south and southeast Asian swallowtail butterfly sporting a beautiful glass-like section in its wings. You should look up videos of them in motion- watching those long tails move is amazing. #dragontailbutterfly #artist #dragon

You know, I don't remember if I first saw a red panda in person or in Zoo Tycoon 2. I'm pretty sure our local zoo doesn't have any, but we lived in a different state when I was little and I know we went to a big city zoo before we moved. Does it count if I don't remember? #redpanda #dragon #artist

This isn't the first time I've done a mud dauber dragon- the first was actually a year ago in honor of the wasps finding their way into my office. A sizeable gap had developed between the wood and glass of the windows, and a repair saw a large drop in the wasp incidents. #wasp #dragon #artist

Some daddy long legs are spiders, but a large number of them are arachnids but aren't spiders. But... they've got eight spindly legs, what gives? WELL, they've got a single fused body part instead of a spider's separate head (cephalothorax) and abdomen. #daddylonglegs #artist #dragon #harvestmen

If you'd asked me what a monkey slug was a few days ago, I'd have guessed it was maybe a sea slug or a flower. It's the name for the hag moth's caterpillar! I suppose someone fancifully thought its "tentacles" looked like curling monkey limbs or tails. #monkeyslug #caterpillar #dragon #artist

The textile cone snail has a probiscis that can fire a needle of venom that can be fatal even to humans. They're not the only snail that can be dangerous to humans, either! Just because something looks cool it doesn't mean you should touch it. #textileconesnail #artist #dragon

The white-petaled skeleton flower turns transparent on contact with water, earning its name. This isn't my first skeleton flower dragon- but the last was almost four and a half years ago and was one of my first daily designs. Wild to see how my art has changed since. #skeletonflower #dragon #artist

Whether by odd mimicry or animated by a wizard with an affinity for summer sundries, this species of dragon has taken on the visage of... a flamingo pool floatie. It's said there are subspecies appearing as alligators, turtles, dolphins, and more. #floatie #dragon #artist

I found a really satisfying picture of grilled cheese halves being pulled apart that ended up the inspiration for this dragon and all the goopy cheese strung across it. I might've had a grilled cheese while working on this design. xD #grilledcheese #artist #dragon

Bateleur eagles spend a considerable amount of time thermoregulating by facing the sun with their wings spread, and they also use ants as a free cleaning and pest control service. Proper dandies. #eagle #dragon #bateleur #artist

The green hairstreak is a lovely little butterfly that comes in subtle, pale yellow-greens and green-blues, combinations that I personally really enjoy. I could've sworn I'd seen one before, but I can't find a map of their range in the US. #hairstreak #butterfly #dragon #artist

Butterflies get the good rep, but moths really come in so many beautiful colors and patterns and they're fluffy. The green tiger moth is found in Peru. There's a few species and all of them have woefully little information available on any of them. #dragon #moth #artist #greentigermoth

The golden tortoise beetle is a golden beetle that could live in my backyard, not that I've had the pleasure of seeing one. XD For this one I didn't quite do a direct take on the beetle, but tried to combine the beetle, some more tortoise-like elements, and the dragon. #dragon #beetle #artist

Have you ever heard of romanesco broccoli? It's a cultivar of cauliflower and it comes in a a cool spiral shape, a natural almost-fractal, and it joins cauliflower and broccoli in being an enlarged and edible flower bud of the species Brassica oleracea. #broccoli #dragon #artist

There are six species of feather-horned beetles and apparently none have been very well studied, but only males have the big fancy antenna and they're used (somehow) to pick up female pheromones. However that works, it looks awfully fancy. #beetle #featherhornedbeetle #artist #dragon

Guarana Antarctica is a soda made with a fruit from the Amazon, also called guarana. To hear people describe it it sounds somewhat citrusy and is a pretty mildly flavored drink, but I've never had it myself. Have any of you had it before? What's it like? #dragon #artist #guarana #soda

Guarana is both a fruit native to the Amazon basin and common in Brazil, and also a soda made with the fruit. I'd never heard of it until a friend who'd lived in Brazil for gave me a recipe for Brazilian stroganoff and said I *had* to have guarana with it. #guarana #soda #dragon #artist

Tardigrades are resilient micro-animals known as "water bears" or "moss piglets", but I'll have you know I came up with better nicknames while working on this dragon. Legged Jabba the Hutt. Corpulent caterpillar with a peashooter face. The great chungus. #tardigrade #dragon #artist

I'm not entirely sure why they might call the flamingo leafwing butterfly a flamingo leafwing. Some pictures of them made the orange on the dorsal side of their wings flash pink, but I can't tell if those have been edited or not. xD #butterfly #dragon #artist

Sables are a species of marten, little mammals that look kinda like ferrets! They have very soft fur that was highly valued as part of fur trade for a long time. #marten #sable #dragon #artist

Did you know tumbleweeds are more than just set dressing for Westerns? Like dandelion seed fluff, they're a part of a plant used to disperse seeds. And like dandelions, they capture the hearts of minds of the people, but instead of wishes, they grant ambience. #tumbleweed #dragon #artist

This is only tangentially relevant to mac n cheese, but did you know the US government stores massive amounts of cheese underground? I thought this was common knowledge for years because I grew up near some cheese storage and I've even visited it. #cheese #macncheese #dragon #artist

Have you heard of the wooly devil? It's a new plant recently discovered in Big Bend national park in the US! It's distinct enough it's even been given its own genus in the daisy family. Its scientific name Ovicula biradiata basically means two-petaled tiny sheep. #woolydevil #plant #dragon #artist

Hiya! If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider joining my Patreon to support my work. <3 Check out the link in my bio by the end of the day March 7th to get these exclusive prints and stickers! #patreon #stickers #prints #dragon #artist #anatomicalheart #valentines

I love gentle grays and white as a palette on animals and morning skies- it makes them look so soft to the touch. #dragon #japanesewagtail #artist

Pink waxcap is also known as ballerina waxcap, and it's a very pretty little mushroom that starts out a typical cone shape but flattens as it ages. Sometimes the cap will split, leaving its pieces curled to expose its frilled gills. Reminds me of an axolotl! #waxcap #funguary #dragon #artist

Magnolias are stupid trees. They'll put out buds on the first 40 degree day and freeze off when the temperatures drop the next day. They'll do this every above-freezing day all winter until it doesn't drop back below freezing and they get the chance to actually bloom. XD #magnolia #dragon #artist

Golden spindles is a lovely fungus belonging to a group sometimes known as coral fungi. What I really want to know is who I can blame for this particular specimen not being named fry fungus. Those are clearly undercover french fries. #funguary #goldenspindles #fungus #dragon #artist

In part as an inside joke, one of my friends and patrons requested an anatomical heart dragon for this month of Valentine's. XD In a game we played, there's a group called Dusters who sign their letters with anatomical hearts. They're such nerds, I love them. #dragon #heart #valentines #artist

Collared earthstar is a cute little fungus that reminds me of giant cloves- a big bulb surrounded by little "petals". They're found worldwide and they have a history of being used in traditional medicines in both North America and China. :3 #funguary #fungus #collaredearthstar #dragon #artist

Hiya! If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider joining my Patreon to support my work. <3 Check out the link in my bio by the end of the day February 7th to get these exclusive prints and stickers! #patreon #stickers #prints #dragon #artist #superbstarling #bird

Lactarius indigo is an agaric fungus more commonly known as indigo milk cap. What's an agaric? Well, they're probably home to one of the most recognizable mushrooms, the fly agaric- the red-capped, white-spotted mushroom! #indigomilkcap #funguary #fungus #dragon #artist

Happy Lunar New Year- it's now the year of the snake- specifically wood snakes! I chose to take inspiration from both a specific snake (the rosy boa) and elements common to Chinese dragons such as whiskers, antlers, and fins. #lunarnewyear #yearofthesnake #rosyboa #snake #dragon #artist

Why are storks associated with delivering babies? Well... it's hard to say! The myth comes from all over and could have roots in a bunch of places, but none are proven- though it gained fresh popularity with the Hans Christian Anderson story The Storks. #stork #dragon #rainbow #baby #artist

...all these years and I've drawn two elephant shrew dragons, but no elephant dragon? XD I'm not sure I feel like this does elephants justice, but honestly what does an elephant justice except an elephant? #elephant #dragon #artist

Got a bit of a different request from one of my patrons: European beech wood. At a suggestion from one of my friends, instead of making it a dragon dragon, I tried to make it look like a wooden toy. Do you think this is only a toy? Is it animate, is it alive? #europeanbeech #dragon #wood #artist

Quoll are adorable carnivorous marsupials from Australia and New Guinea! I first learned about them years ago when a huge inspiration of mine, Dina Norlund, used them in a creature design of hers, and they featured in one of my earliest dragon designs! #quoll #easternquoll #dragon #artist

The superb starling is a gorgeous iridescent starling from central-eastern Africa, and apparently in a national park in Kenya, a specific species of monkey has learned and responds to their alarm calls for predators! Inter-species interaction is so cool. #superbstarling #starling #dragon #artist

Horny toads are not toads. They are not frogs. What they are are stout little lizards covered in spines, and moreover: they're effectively already dragons so far as I'm concerned. #lizard #hornytoad #dragon #artist

Who- who gave gorillas the right to be shaped like that? Heads tucked down into their thick, hunched shoulders, absolutely giant arms, swayed backs and drooped bellies- they make sense, but also make no sense and I'd like to file a complaint XD #gorilla #dragon #artist

Assassin bugs are a family of ambush predators found all over the world, which makes them what's known as a "cosmopolitan" species! The family is one of the largest in their order but even with all that variety most of them are pretty recognizable. #assassinbug #dragon #artist

Hiya! If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider joining my Patreon to support my work. <3 Check out the link in my bio by the end of the day January 7th to get these exclusive prints and stickers! #patreon #stickers #prints #dragon #artist #aurora #nightsky

I was feelin the winter vibes so I decided to go for a penguin dragon! The gentoo penguin mostly lives on sub-Antarctic islands and is technically the third-largest penguin there... at the grand average of about 2.5 feet tall. #gentoo #penguin #dragon #artist

The winterberry is a species of holly named for... you guessed it... its winter berries. xD It doesn't have the sharp leaves often associated with holly, but it's got the bright red berries! #winterberry #dragon #holly #artist

Happy New Year!! Podzols, meaning under-ash, are a kind of soil in coniferous and boreal forests- one of its top layers is low in nutrients and tends to be an ashy gray. They aren't good for agriculture, but their striping does look really cool! #podzol #soil #dragon #earth #artist

Do you have any silly Christmas sweaters? I've never fully understood the hate for them. Some can absolutely get ridiculously loud, but only the ones that are specifically meant to be. Otherwise you just have a bunch of fun patterned seasonal sweaters! #christmas #sweater #dragon #artist

The "poodle moth" was a tentative name given to a moth that's been photographed I believe once. It absolutely blew up on the internet, with dozens of pictures being labeled the poodle moth- pictures of other species, as well as pictures of needlefelted sculptures. XD #silkmoth #dragon #artist