I am incredibly fortunate that my parents advocate my artwork, especially as this has sometimes given me commissions. In May 2019, after my dad shared my work with some of his colleagues, one of them sent me an e-mail for my very first painting commission. Even better, it was a commission to paint a frog that she and her son had found in Costa Rica, a beautiful specimen of Red-Eyed Tree Frog. With photo references, it being the summer and with no hard deadline, and a frog being the subject, I could not have asked for a more perfect first commission. So I looked at their photographs, pulled out my 10×14 watercolor paper, and set to work.

As this commission was to paint a specific Red-Eyed Tree Frog, I stuck close to the photograph, only removing some of the twigs and brightening the frog a little to make it stand out more from its background. Doing so required more time and energy than I had anticipated, though. While tackling the Red-Eyed Tree Frog’s rainbow of colors was fun, it was tricky to keep the colors separate and as vibrant as possible. Similarly with the layered background, painting around the sticks and leaves took time and care. Fortunately for me, by treading carefully with a small brush, letting paint dry when needed, and keeping a close eye on my painting and their photo, everything progressed fairly smoothly. I had one scare, where after finishing the frog, I accidentally spilled my cup of water over the entire painting. But miraculously, after some gentle toweling and a dry in the sun, the frog came out virtually unchanged. With luck on my side, I used India ink to help darken the background, and after hours of steady progress concluded a painting I was proud of.

Through this painting, I gained more experience with backgrounds, realism, and watercolor painting, all while experiencing my first painting commission. Even better, not only did I enjoy painting a frog with every color of the rainbow, but I knowing this painting was going to another young frog lover made this experience all the more meaningful. As much as I love creating artwork for myself, I couldn’t be more fortunate than to use art to share my passion for frogs and frog conservation with others.