Ammonite and Nautilus Shells

Here's some work I've been doing at the Sunny Point Artist Residency. These are reduction linocuts of the Ammonite and Nautilus shells for my new book. Throughout the book the two characters remain the same size and orientation, although their colors change to emphasize changes in mood. The soft parts of their bodies will be included in the final illustrations, but I'm doing those as watercolor paintings. I did the shells as linocuts to give them a more smooth, graphic look to contrast with the more expressively painted soft parts of their bodies, and also in contrast to the rugged woodcuts of other prehistoric plants and animals that will appear in the backgrounds.