The ornately colored sea anemone (uh-NEM-uh-nee) is named after the equally flashy terrestrial anemone flower. A close relative of coral and jellyfish, anemones are stinging polyps that spend most of their time attached to rocks on the sea bottom or on coral reefs waiting for fish to pass close enough to get ensnared in their venom-filled tentacles. Their bodies are composed of an adhesive foot, a cylindrical body, and an array of tentacles surrounding a central mouth. The tentacles are triggered by the slightest touch, firing a harpoon-like filament into their victim and injecting a paralyzing neurotoxin. The helpless prey is then guided into the mouth by the tentacles. There are more than 1,000 sea anemone species found throughout the world’s oceans at various depths. I need to review my colors and get a much brighter, electric blue for these tropical images. The sketch is a quick pencil sketch for proportions and then direct to watercolor without ink. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
A SKETCHBOOK ODYSSEY 