NATURE'S PORTRAITS: A COLORING BOOK OF SCALES, TAILS, FUR AND WINGS — BY PEGGY MCNAMARA

When it comes to color, nothing can surpass the vast palette found in nature, from a bright green leaf in a sun-dappled forest to the rich red feathers of a cardinal and the muted greens, ambers, and browns that make up the shell of a tortoise.

Wildlife artist Peggy Macnamara has been recreating the natural world through her drawings and paintings for decades, and, with Nature’s Portraits, she invites the rest of the world to join her.

Nature’s Portraits: A Coloring Book of Scales, Tails, Furs and Wings offers 60 of Macnamara’s detailed drawings that can be brought brilliantly to life with nothing more than a few colored pencils or crayons and a sense of wonder about the world around us.

Many of the drawings depict animals as they might appear in their natural habitats—like a tree frog, a dashing, playful fox, a snowy owl poised for flight, a sauntering jaguar, and a watchful herd of giraffe.

These wild furry and feathered friends are joined by animals found in museums, including Sue, the Field Museum’s resident Tyrannosaurus rex. Each illustration is captioned with a brief scientific description of the species pictured.

Combining inspiration from natural history with a calming, creative activity, Nature’s Portraits encourages us to take a closer look at what we miss when we don’t take the time to stop and look with deep appreciation at the bounty of the natural world around us.

SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

THE DETAILS

FORMAT: New, Paperback

PUBLISHED: September 6, 2016

PUBLISHER: University of Chicago Press

ISBN: 978-0226431550

PAGES; 128 pages with 60 halftones

DIMENSIONS: 8 1/4  inches W x 93/4 inches H x 0.6 T

RATING: ★★★★1/2 (See FAQs)

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Peggy Macnamara is artist-in-residence at the Field Museum and an adjunct associate professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of several books published by the University of Chicago Press.