Sleeping Mermaid in Kelp Bed off Three Arch Bay

MODELS: My model was my cherished then-girlfriend and accomplished artist Naomi Joy Oliva who was a chronic work-a-holic who was always falling asleep on the beach or at home. She paid the price: I turned her into a Disney "Ariel" mermaid princess.

NOTE: All fish, starfish, and algae species including the kelp rendered within this drawing are local to the coastal kelp beds and tidal pools of South Orange County, California. This is an extreme shallow water inshore environment. This is my surfer's or diver's "Church."

JAPANESE MINIPOSTER PROJECT: My Japanese clients and publishers for mini-posters went nuts for this image which earned me a metric ton of cash proceeds, residuals, royalties and licensing fees. So were my graphics contacts in Johannesburg, South Africa. I quick trip to Port Elizabeth--Twenty-One hours--was also required. Of course Naomi got to fly with me.

My first dive with living coelacanths was completed, but was extremely short at depth--a mere eight minutes--at 188-feet--requiring decompression stops and careful US Navy dive table calculations with spare air tanks tied off on our dive ropes at the required stops. I never use local navy calculations. They fudge the numbers.

This drawing is not my most well known image, but it is one of my most dynamic and broad spectrum in terms of my multimedia pigments. Bic and Pentel pens were utilized as well as graphite Number Two pencils, Prismacolor pencils by Berol, India inks, Dr. Martin inks, F&W inks, acrylic tube paints, markers from all over, and live critter models in my saltwater tide pool aquariums and an entire kitchen sink were utilized in the creation of this "Wet Dream."