Kelley Whitley

Watercolor painting of a Copper Band Butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus. These fish form long-term monogamous pairs. I’m painting one reef fish per day for 100 days with the hope of building a community. It’s about how art becomes connection. If you love the ocean, curiosity is enough. 🐠

100 Days of Reef Fish
Beautiful Reef Fish 3/10: Copper Band Butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus. These fish form long-term monogamous pairs.

Thanks again, Uncle Scotter, @dinosaucerous.bsky.social for the suggestion.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Flame Angelfish, Centropyge loricula. The classic angelfish body shape makes them agile, helping them to evade predators. I’m painting one reef fish per day for 100 days with the hope of building a community. It’s about how art becomes connection. If you love the ocean, curiosity is enough. 🐠

100 Days of Reef Fish
Beautiful Reef Fish 2/10: Flame Angelfish, Centropyge loricula. Their shape makes them agile, helping them to evade predators.
Thank you, Uncle Scotter, @dinosaucerous.bsky.social for suggesting this lovely reef fish.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Honeycomb Cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius. The intricate pattern of this Boxfish breaks up its silhouette and helps it blend into its surroundings. I’m painting one reef fish per day for 100 days with the hope of building a community. It’s about how art becomes connection. If you love the ocean, curiosity is enough. 🐠

100 Days of Reef Fish
Beautiful Reef Fish 1/10: Honeycomb Cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius. The intricate pattern breaks up the boxfish’s silhouette for camouflage

Thank you, Dana Ransby, @danaransby.bsky.social for suggesting this beauty.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Longspine Squirrelfish, Holocentrus rufus. Its big eyes help this nocturnal reef fish hunt at night. I did my scuba certification training in the winter. I did the course and pool work in my home town. But, rather than do my open water dives in a cold, dark quarry, I headed to the Caribbean. I was nervous and not entirely certain that scuba was for me. On the first dive I was focusing on my gear, my fear, and all the stuff I was supposed to remember. More than halfway through the dive, I came face-to-face with a bright red fish with HUGE eyes. OMG! There are fish down here! I was hooked. This post is part of a bigger project. I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days. Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 10/10: Longspine Squirrelfish, Holocentrus rufus.

This is my pick for an iconic reef fish. See image ALT for the story.

Tomorrow I start 10 ‘beautiful’ reef fish. What fish do you think is the prettiest?

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Spanish Hogfish, Bodianus rufus. The colorful juveniles of western Atlantic wrasse act as cleaner fish, though the adults hunt for crustaceans and small fish. This post is part of a bigger project. I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days 🐠 Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 9/10: Spanish Hogfish, Bodianus rufus. The colorful juveniles of western Atlantic wrasse act as cleaner fish.

Thank you, again, @dinosaucerous.bsky.social for suggesting this iconic reef fish.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Ribboned Sweetlips, Plectorhinchus polytaenia. This is only one of many color patterns of grunts found in the Indo-Pacific. They are commonly found on coral slopes with current. The Small Mouth Grunts is a similar Caribbean fish. This post is part of a bigger project. I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days 🐠 Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 8/10: Ribboned Sweetlips, Plectorhinchus polytaenia. This and other yellow and black grunts are found in current on coral slopes in the Indo-Pacific. The Small Mouth Grunt is a similar Caribbean fish.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Green Chromis, Chromis viridis. Schools of these shy damsel fish hide in acropora coral in the Indo-Pacific. The similar Caribbean fish is the Blue Chromis. This post is part of a bigger project. I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days 🐠 Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 7/10: Green Chromis, Chromis viridis. Schools of these shy damsel fish hide in acropora coral in the Indo-Pacific. The similar Caribbean fish is the Blue Chromis.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Thank you! The next set of ten will be ‘beautiful’ reef fish. I put your suggestions of flame angelfish and copper band butterfly in that category. Eventually I’m doing ‘weird looking’ and ‘ugly’ reef fish. Do you have suggestions for those?

Watercolor painting of a Powder Brown Tang, Acanthurus japonicus. Tangs are surgeon fish, named for the sharp spine at the base of the tail. This post is part of a bigger project. I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days 🐠 Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 6/10: Powder Brown Tang, Acanthurus japonicus. Tangs are surgeon fish, named for the sharp spine at the base of the tail.

This was another suggestion of an iconic reef fish from @dinosaucerous.bsky.social
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

100 Days of Reef Fish Iconic Fish 5/10: Green Moray Eel, Gymnothorax funebris. Morays have pharyngeal jaws, a second jaw system in the throat. This can be extended to grab prey, like Alien in the movies. This painting is part of a project I’ll be painting reef fish for the next 100 days 🐠 Colors, behaviors, weirdness, and wonder included.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 5/10: Green Moray Eel, Gymnothorax funebris. Morays have a second jaw system in the throat which can grab prey like Alien.

Thank you @briarrose1987.bsky.social for suggesting the moray as an iconic reef fish.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

100 Days of Reef Fish Iconic Fish 4/10: Spine-cheeked Anemonefish, Amphipiron biaculeatus, not Nemo but a close cousin. Each anemonefish colony has only one breeding pair; all the other fish are non-breeding males. If the colony loses its lone female, the next-largest and socially dominant male changes sex to become the new female. Special thanks Bob Camarena, and others, who suggested a clownfish as an iconic reef fish. Since I recently posted a digital version and reposted an older painting, I substituted this.

Spine-cheeked Anemonefish, Amphipiron biaculeatus. Each anemonefish colony has only one female. If the colony loses her, the next-largest male becomes the new female.

Thank you, Bob Camarena, who suggested the iconic clownfish.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Regal Blue Tang, Paracanthurus hepatus. This piece is part of a bigger project, 100 Days of Reef Fish. I am committing to painting one reef fish per day for 100 days in hopes that their stories will raise awareness of ocean conservation issues.

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 3/10: Regal Blue Tang, Paracanthurus hepatus. This movie star can change color, turning pale or dark in response to stress.

Special thanks to Amber Love, @amberunmasked.bsky.social, for the suggestion.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

About - #The100DayProject Newsletter The 100 Day Project is a free, global art project built around one simple idea: show up to your creative practice every day for 100 days. Anyone can participate! Subscribe to receive updates and daily...

There’s no right way. The fish thing is just my personal way of doing the 100 Days Project, an annual global art movement that starts in late February. Participants commit to a daily creative activity of their choosing and share their work online. For more info see
www.the100dayproject.org/about

100 Days of Reef Fish Iconic Fish 2/10: Porcupine Puffer, Diodon holocanthus. These fish can change color and pattern for camouflage. This watercolor painting is part of a bigger project I am doing to raise awareness of ocean conservation issues and, hopefully, build a community of likeminded individuals. This project is called 100 Days of Reef Fish: From Signal to Community. It’s about how art becomes connection

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 2/10: Porcupine Puffer, Diodon holocanthus. These shy but curious fish can change color and pattern for camouflage.

Special thanks to Uncle Scotter @dinosauceros.bsky.social for the suggestion.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject

Watercolor painting of a Stripped Boxfish, Ostacion solorensis. This piece is part of a series of 100 daily paintings, a project I am doing to raise awareness of ocean conservation issues and, hopefully, build a community of likeminded individuals

100 Days of Reef Fish
Iconic Fish 1/10: Striped Boxfish, Ostracion solorensis. Boxfish hunt by blowing jets of water into the sand to uncover hidden prey.

Special thanks to @crash-edit.bsky.social for the suggestion.

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #dothe100daysproject #sundayfishsketch

Watercolor painting of a bumphead parrotfish, Bolbometopon muricatum

100 Days of Reef Fish | From Signal to Community

Daily art.
Daily stories.
An experiment in how sharing wonder turns into care—for reefs and for each other.

Day 1 starts tomorrow.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs

This is a watercolor painting of a Dwarf Hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco. I digitally edited the photo of my work to turn it into a promo for my 100 Days Project, which is to paint one reef fish per day for 100 days. The 100 Day Project 2026 is a global, free, and public art initiative where participants commit to a creative action for 100 consecutive days, starting on February 22, 2026. The goal is to focus on the process rather than the outcome by practicing a chosen, simple, and repeatable activity daily, such as painting, writing, or crafting. For more info about the 100 Days Project see https://www.the100dayproject.org/p/heres-whats-ahead-for-the-100-day

This is a repost of my watercolor painting of a Dwarf Hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco, for my Sunday Fish Sketch and to announce my 100 Days Project. See ALT for more info.
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs #sundayfishsketch

Mixed media painting of a Mandarin dragonet, Synchiropus splendidus

What do think is the most beautiful reef fish?
Starting February 22, I’ll be painting one reef fish per day for 100 days. I need your help with a prompt list. So far, I have 10 suggestions for ‘iconic’ reef fish, but I need 90 ideas. Reply to vote for ‘prettiest’ #sciart #coralreefs #marinelife

I paint from underwater photos, and the flash frequently reflects. I intentionally emphasize the contrast to help viewers quickly find the eye. I took this image in Indonesia last year. You can clearly see the tiny reflection. If I were painting this, I would make it more obvious.

Definitely!

Thanks for the list. I’ve never heard of a flame angel.

Definitely!

Watercolor painting of a tiger shark

Here is a tiger shark for #sundayfishsketch
#sciart #coralreefs #marinelife

Watercolor painting of a clown anemone fish, Amphiprion ocellaris

In your opinion, what is the most iconic reef fish?
I’ll be doing the 100 Days project this year. Starting February 22, I’ll be painting one reef fish per day for 100 days. I need your help to generate a prompt list. Reply in comments to vote for your favorites #sciart #coralreefs #marinelife

I collected the original paintings from my parrotfish gallery and put them in a scrapbook as a gift for the guests and crew of the Emperor Explorer dive boat. I hope they will inspire others to protect our reefs and their inhabitants. #scieart #marinelife #coralreef
oceanartivist.com/parrotfish-s...

Stoplight parrotfish painting

Here is a watercolor painting of a Stoplight Parrotfish, Sparisoma viride, for my Sunday Fish Sketch.
Reference photo(s) by Randall Spangler

#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs
#parrotfish #spanglersscuba
#sundayfishsketch

Digital drawing of a clown anemone fish, Anphipiron percula, created using Adobe Fresco

Here is today’s drawing, a clown fish. I am still at sea (hence the digital work rather than watercolor) and still not diving (hence a lot of time on my hands). #sciart #coralreefs #marinelife

Protecting parrotfish works but not quickly. New Blog: Why Saving Parrotfish Takes Time #sciart #coralreefs #marinelife
oceanartivist.com/protection-p...

Drawing of a Black Saddled Toby, a type of sharp nosed puffer fish commonly found in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. This drawing was done using Adobe Fresco from a reference photo I took in Indonesia in 2023

Here is a digital drawing of a Black Saddled Toby, Canthigaster valentini
#sciart #coralreefs #marinelife

Here is a watercolor painting of a Roundhead Parrotfish, intermediate phase, Chlorurus strongylocephalas. Reference photo(s) by Stephen Spangler

Here is a watercolor painting of a Roundhead Parrotfish, intermediate phase, Chlorurus strongylocephalas, for my #sundayfishsketch
#sciart #marinelife #coralreefs
#parrotfish #spanglersscuba