Welcome to Pen Sapiens — a collection of my writing, illustrations, and other little projects

See some 'ART' | Read some ARTICLES and BLOGS | Watch some ANIMATIONS | Roll in some SCIENCE

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writing, science

Love is in the water: Critically endangered handfish embrace art, new ceramic nests

writing, science

Critically endangered spotted handfish have taken to artificially created ceramic nests, used in unique springtime courtship rituals.

writing, science

science, writing

LOG 3: Final voyage days: Swarms of flying fish, bundles of boobies, finding SS Macumba, and fond farewells

science, writing

LOG 3: My final log after two weeks at sea. We found a shipwreck, lost for 70 years, saw flocks of boobies, flying fish, turtles, and sharks, and formed a strong bond doing so.

science, writing

science, miscellany

Interronauts | the CSIRO podcast

science, miscellany

Interronauts the CSIRO podcast I'm lucky enough to co-host. Here are the episodes, films clips, and a bit of background

science, miscellany

science, fine art & animation, commission, writing

Secret Lives of Carnivorous Marsupials: lion and sabretooth paintings

science, fine art & animation, commission, writing

My two artworks for the book 'Secret Lives of Carnivorous Marsupials' (2017).

science, fine art & animation, commission, writing

cartoons & comics, fine art & animation, personal, writing

18 Years of Pokémon, Art & Me

cartoons & comics, fine art & animation, personal, writing

Pokémon has been a testing ground for almost every creative pursuit I've ever done. Here's the gamut.

cartoons & comics, fine art & animation, personal, writing

personal, miscellany

Stand up comedy foray

personal, miscellany

I tried stand up comedy and it was SCARY! and fun :)

personal, miscellany

Latest

Blog post library

Love is in the water: Critically endangered handfish embrace art, new ceramic nests

Critically endangered spotted handfish have taken to artificially created ceramic nests, used in unique springtime courtship rituals.

Devourer of worlds: two of the worst pests have hybridised into a global ‘mega-pest’

Ravenous caterpillar that eats hundreds of plant species, unstopped by pesticides, and that's never been to the Americas arrives in the Americas and hybridises with the locally adapted caterpillar. What more?

EAT LAMPREY LOVE

EAT. LAMPREY. LOVE. A pun infused with a dozen or so hours to make a confusing comic. Enjoy.

RV Investigator illustrated voyages: Sampling the Abyss & Search for Macumba

Posters I did to celebrate two of RV Investigator's voyages, Search for Macumba (~Star Wars) and Sampling the Abyss (Dr. Seuss).

artworks

Go click crazy — the slideshows love it!

Comics & cartoons

RV Investigator: Sampling the Abyss

RV Investigator: Sampling the Abyss. CSIRO

Cassini end of Mission first three panels

Cassini’s end of mission cartoon.

Where's Wallaby?

Where’s Wallaby - featuring 70(?) native species.

VPDaD Vertebrate Pest Detect and deter

A robot scarecrow developed by CSIRO for deterring large vertebrates like elephants from destroying crops.

New CSIRO office in the US - a collaborative effort

Promotional graphic for a CSIRO + US collaboration.

Pokemon Chintz

Here's a floral chintzy pattern I did, using Pokémon. I entered the illustration into a competition from Uniqlo. The image was completed on a Wacom graphics tablet and features at least one member of every Pokémon family that bears flowers.

Dragon Me

I recently went to Japan and had my graphics tablet with me, so it felt right to do a dragon-inspired self-portrait. This is it.

Coming to Grips with Meddlesome Privates

Me in Japan

I recently spent a month travelling around Japan by me self. I completed this drawing waiting at airport terminals on the way over. My trip ended up being roughly like this depiction.

Parrot boss GIF

Draft boss for a pixel art video game my friends were developing.

Mayan pixel art doomsday calendar

Mayan pixel art doomsday calendar (for feature in pixel art video game).

Ghost bat — roosting and taking flight

I was recently commissioned to work on an animal-identification key for Australian native and exotic species. This here is the ghost bat. I completed it in digital format

96ing

Hot new 21st century sex position.

BOP/Leukaemia Comic

http://csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2016/New-way-to-harvest-stem-cells-better-for-donors

CSIRO shirt competition (failed entry)

Imaginary argument with dad

Revolting Ravioli

Pixel beetle

Pixel beetle for my friends’ pixel game. May have been animated - can’t recall.

Garfield's Space Lasagne

A Garfield parody I drew up for a CSIRO press release about 'space lasagne'. GARFIELD: © Paws. Used by permission. Art by CSIRO/me.

Pixel gibbon

Arthropod Art (Colour)

App icon for Lineage

More information, here.

Bat immunity | CSIRO

A gouache painting for CSIRO: http://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2016/Bat-super-immunity-to-lethal-disease-could-help-protect-people

Cold turkey on Xanax

Illustration for book on psychotropic meds.

maois-mind-the-cheese-please-combined-jpeg — April 8 2014.jpg

ascent-of-pokemon-all - November 22 2014.png

endowment-effect-third — April 8 2014.jpg

humans-as-apes-1-third — April 8 2014.jpg

humans-as-apes-2-third — April 8 2014.jpg

im-feeling-creative-third — April 8 2014.jpg

Everlast GIF

No comment...

jock-itch-frank-and-curt-quarter - May 7 2014.jpg

Pigeon with pigeon-foot at the hospital.jpg

Candy crushers crush commuting commuters.PNG

STDWYTK1 - stuff they don't want you to know.jpg

vlad-the-impala-and-co-quarter - August 15 2014.jpg

Arthropod Art (Highlights)

Arthropod Art (Line Art)

Australian Gods

Sometimes jokes, observations, or new ideas are best presented in doodle form. View them all here →

Not comics or cartoons

Red-footed booby diving into the water

Spider orchid being pollinated by Thynnid wasp

Thynnid wasp unwittingly pollinates orchid while attempting to mate with the flower.

Marsupial lion

Marsupial lions (Thylacoleo carnifex)

A gouache painting of an extinct species of Australian marsupial: Thylacoleo carnifex, commonly known as the marsupial lion. This painting was completed for an upcoming book called 'The Secret Lives of Marsupial Carnivores'.

Marsupial sabretooth (Thylacosmilus atrox)

A gouache painting of an extinct species of South American marsupial carnivore. This animal is known as Thylacosmilus atrox, commonly know as the marsupial sabretooth, for obvious reasons.

Peanut the chihuahua

Wedding gift commission

Here's a commission I did for my friend as a wedding gift for her friends. Digital (Photoshop).

Changyuraptor yangi

Changyuraptor yangi — a large species of microraptor, a group of 'flying' dinosaurs.

Potential Nature cover

img_2650-e1428708679452 - April 11 2015.jpg

img_5927-copy-e1423266174333 - February 7 2015.jpg

iain mcgregor head on fire maoi painting.JPG

Tomato Jellyfish

This be a school of tomato jellyfish.

Stipple, pencil, pen, and paint — here are my most work-intensive illustrations. View them all here →

View the whole kit 'n caboodle here →

WRITING

Science news, essays, and musings

Looking to catch up on some science news, cosy up to an essay, or even read my observations on things that didn't need to be committed to words? Then you're in luck! Read here →

Blog post library

13 Dec 2018

Love is in the water: Critically endangered handfish embrace art, new ceramic nests

13 Dec 2018

Critically endangered spotted handfish have taken to artificially created ceramic nests, used in unique springtime courtship rituals.

13 Dec 2018

9 Apr 2018

Devourer of worlds: two of the worst pests have hybridised into a global ‘mega-pest’

9 Apr 2018

10 Nov 2017

Unexpected venomous animals | Venom: The secrets of nature’s deadliest weapon

10 Nov 2017

A whirlwind tour of venomous animals the world around, featuring animals from 'Venom' (2017).

10 Nov 2017

10 Oct 2017

LOG 3: Final voyage days: Swarms of flying fish, bundles of boobies, finding SS Macumba, and fond farewells

10 Oct 2017

LOG 3: My final log after two weeks at sea. We found a shipwreck, lost for 70 years, saw flocks of boobies, flying fish, turtles, and sharks, and formed a strong bond doing so.

10 Oct 2017