bird – Tarjan Studio

Grand Canyon Eagle

Garment illustration by Janet Tarjan Erl

Grand Canyon Eagle

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 12”h x 26″w, T-shirt Image Size: 7″h x 15″w 2002.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts for the Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon National Park is incredible. Its sheer size and complexity of eroded canyons and ridges is awe inspiring. This Golden Eagle looks over the popular south rim of the canyon.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

The Wave and Roadrunner

The Wave and Roadrunner

Medium: Digital Photoshop, Image Size: 15.5″h x21″w, 2020.

I created this colorful and digital painting of a Roadrunner bird set against the backdrop of the extraordinary landmark known as the Wave which is near Kanab, Utah. The features depicted in this artwork are wind and water sculpted rock. I originally created this as a sample for an art grant I was applying for to the state of Utah for art murals for one of their state-owned liquor stores. I didn’t win the grant, but the artwork turned out beautiful.

Sketched in pencil. Scanned into the computer and floated. Painting, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

American Eagle

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 12″h x20″w, 2000.

I did this illustration of a Bald Eagle as part of my Native Visions preprint line for T-shirts. Native Visions was a collection of illustrations where wildlife and Native American beadwork were combined together. Each design pays homage to an important animal in Native American mythology. The beadwork is painted to create the illusion of beads complete with imperfections. It was done in Photoshop, and I created my own custom bead brushes to do it. I admire eagles because they are stately and beautiful birds. The Bald Eagle is the national symbol of the United States, and for many Americans it represents American pride. Native Americans also admire the Bald Eagle. Whether it symbolizes pride or represents courage, the Bald Eagle has been admired throughout the ages.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Coming Home

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 21″h x 18″w, T-shirt Image Size: 12″h x 10″w, 1997.

I created this illustration as part of a line of outdoor sportsman artworks. This art was designed with the hunting enthusiast in mind. It’s always exciting to watch Canada Geese descend into fields or lakes. Whether you’re hunting or birding, these large, impressive waterfowl are a joy to see.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

I Love Bugs

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 10″h x 22.5″w, T-shirt Image Size: 4″h x 9″w, 2006.

I created this illustration as part of a line of children’s T-shirts. I called the line Nature’s Little Ones. The designs were intended for marketing in museums and science centers. I depicted wild animals and critters in a cute, cartoony style. In this case I created a cute, big eared bat.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Trumpeter Beauty

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 15”h x 21″w, T-shirt Image Size: 7.25″h x 10″w, 2000.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts. This trumpeter swan design was derived from my painting, Graceful Pose. I floated the swan from the painting in Photoshop and enhanced some of the water effects.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Liberty

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 22”h x 21″w, T-shirt Image Size: 15″h x 14.25″w 2001.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Be Free! RV!

Medium: Watercolor, Digital/Photoshop, Image Size: 20”h x 20″w, T-shirt Image Size: 14″h x 14″w 2001.

This design was created as an apparel design for T-shirts. My husband and I are RV enthusiasts, so I came up with a line of T-shirts designs with a RV theme.

Painted in watercolor. Scanned into the computer and floated. Digital painting and enhancements, graphics, colors, effects, and text were done in Photoshop.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Shorebird Ensemble

Watercolor painting of shorebirds by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Shorebird Ensemble

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 17.25″h x 23.5″w, 2016.

My husband and I were beach strolling at Morro Bay, California when we saw hundreds of shorebirds strolling and hunting along the surf and having a feast. I was so impressed with the magnificence, beauty, elegance, and grace of the Long -billed Curlews and Marbled Godwits, and the peppy little Western Sandpipers darting in and about at light speed, so I created this painting to capture a fitting impression of that day and those birds. My husband and I spent hours ambling along the beach alongside these awesome birds. They were comfortable with us being close to them and rewarded us with their behaviors, feeding habits, poses, etc. We must have taken over five hundred photographs of them.

For this purely transparent watercolor painting I used many different photos as references for lighting, body shape, pose, etc…, I had to study dozens of my photos to get better feather detail information because my photos weren’t descriptive enough to actually know what I was looking at, especially in shadow areas, and those Godwit and Curlew feathers were very complex.

I was very grateful to those birds for generously sharing their magnificence with us, and I hope the painting will inspire others to appreciate their beauty too.

Original is sold.

Additional images of artwork, matting, or framing.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.

Surf’s Edge Oystercatcher

Watercolor painting of Oystercatcher at surfs edge by Janet Tarjan Erl.

Surf's Edge Oystercatcher

Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 25.25”h x 19.25”w, 2022.

I enjoy watching Oystercatchers dart among the rocks in the intertidal zone as they probe for mussels, mollusks, and other invertebrates. It’s fun to watch them fly up to avoid the crashing surf. I saw this noble Oystercatcher at Port Townsend, Washington and wanted to do a watercolor of it, so I portrayed it in a surf’s edge setting that I saw, also, at Port Townsend.

I love seeing Oystercatchers along the North Beach at Fort Worden State Park, but I also love seeing the amazing diversity of rocks along that beach. There are hundreds of distinctly different rock types along that beach that were carried there by glaciers from Canada and terrain all around the Puget Sound.

So, I got to share my love and enthusiasm for the rocks of that beach and for Oystercatchers in this painting.

Original is available.

Note: Image Watermark of Copyright and/or Website are NOT on the Original.