I was delighted to create three wildlife illustrations for The Colourful Heritage of County Cork, a colouring book celebrating the county’s natural, cultural and built heritage.
The drawings focused on three distinctive aspects of Cork’s natural environment: the Blackwater River habitat, the birds of Harper’s Island, a popular destination for birdwatchers, and the wildlife of The Gearagh. It was an especially rewarding project because it brought together several things at the heart of my practice: natural-history illustration, biodiversity, place and visual storytelling.
The Gearagh was one of the most fascinating subjects to explore. Located near Macroom, it is an unusual wet woodland landscape shaped by the River Lee and recognised for its international importance for nature conservation. Its network of channels, islands, woodland and wetlands creates a distinctive habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.
The area also has a strong cultural and folkloric identity. Local stories tell of Meascan Maraiocht, mischievous spirits said to confuse travellers and lead them astray. Stories like these add another layer to a landscape that is already rich in natural history, showing how places can hold both ecological and cultural memories.
The wildlife associated with the Gearagh and the surrounding waterways is equally diverse. For this project, I illustrated a range of fish, including pike, lamprey, perch, bullhead, dace, gudgeon, salmon, stone loach, and wild brown trout, alongside birds including shelduck, ringed plover, common pochard, kestrel, swan, mallard, heron, and brent goose.
Creating illustrations for a colouring book presents a slightly different challenge from producing finished natural-history artwork. The drawings need to be accurate enough to communicate each species' character and identifying features, while also providing clear, engaging forms that invite people to interact with the images.
I particularly enjoy projects like this because wildlife illustration can connect people with a particular place. A colouring book may reach a much wider audience than a traditional natural-history publication, encouraging children and adults alike to look more closely at the species and habitats around them.
The photographs below show some of the illustrations in progress, as I developed the drawings for the final publication.
I’m always pleased to work on projects that celebrate Ireland’s biodiversity and heritage, especially when illustration can make local wildlife more visible, memorable, and engaging.
