u/OceanicWonton

Kia Ora from NZ! This is the whio, or blue duck. It features on our $10 notes, but in my opinion, they are still extremely underrated.

There's less than 3000 whio in the wild right now, mainly due to habitat loss and predation by introduced mammalian predators. Whio are water quality indicators, as they are found only in our cleanest fast-flowing rivers.

They make beautiful whistling calls. This particular subject is a beautiful male whio I had 'conversations' with while he wagged his tail and followed me around his enclosure.

I hope you like this piece, it was created using gouache paints. It sat on my desk unfinished for months. Something about the surge of AI "art" really killed my creative vibe.

Did you know there's less than 3,000 whio in Aotearoa? They are incredible water quality indicators, only being found in clean, fast-flowing rivers. The reference picture was taken at Ngā Manu, Waikanae. This particular whio would talk to me and wag his tail, an absolute beautiful bird.

This painting sat unfinished for several months, but today was the day I could finally sign it and call it a day. I hope you like it. It was painted using gouache. Swipe to see a couple of close ups of the piece.