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Jen C Mars

@jencmars.bsky.social
5.6K followers 461 following 3.1K posts

Illustrator: Fantasy & Nature - Wildlife Photography Enthusiast - TTRPG Player - I like birds and bugs Portfolio: www.jencmars.com Shop: jencmars.bigcartel.com

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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 14h
Seen today
Photo of a bumper sticker on a car that reads, “Honk if you’d rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece ‘The Mummy’ starring Brenden Fraser and Rachel Weisz
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Thomas Barbin @thomasbarbin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Taracus carmanah!!! Known only from its type localities and specimens. Somehow we found one individual during a bioblitz last weekend. These are the first photos of a live individual, and is the first individual seen alive! Still buzzing from this find. #arachtober #harvestmen #opiliones
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you are part of an academic society or a professor of any kind, public statements that you do not condone Drexel cutting off the academy of natural sciences from the public of Philadelphia is very important right now. We need your voices. Urgently.
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Natasa Ilincic @natasailincic.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I struggled to contain my rage this past week reading about the Cornell Seven. Rage towards men who use the degradation of women as a bonding activity. Rage towards the cowards who stay silent and perpetuate the system they benefit from.
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Beetle 5/11 - Tetraphyllus #Art #SciArt
illustration of a dark, round beetle with iridescence that makes its otherwise black body and wings appear in vivid rainbow colors like a soap bubble.
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EveryHeron 𓅣 @everyheron.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
There's a Heron hidden inside every pencil ✏️. It's up to you to let it out Amazing work #HeronArt 💙
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Pencil study 🪶 🐡
Photo of a fully rendered, semi-realistic pencil drawing of a great blue heron with it's neck curved similar to a figure eight. The drawing is resting on a wood desk and a hand holding a pencil is visible on the left hand side.
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Walking behind a couple of tweens: Kid 1: “OMG LINEAR PERSPECTIVE IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!" Kid 2: “I know! It’s SO FUN!”
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A very small and pretty cobweb weaver for #Arachtober
Photo of a small red-orange-brown spider standing on the tip of a leaf. The spider has large, dark visible pedipalps and long spindly orange legs. The back part is mottled with dark reddish brown. The visible hairs on the leaf provide a sense of scale that the spider is very small. The background is out of focus green.
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Kieran 🦘🇨🇦 @hellbendermuseum.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Proud to present my lifesize T. rex head, affectionately named Hannibal. I created this myself from start to finish- digital sculpture, resin 3D printing, painting, etc. Huge thanks to my friend @rj-palmer.com for instrumental crits and redlines during the sculpting process.
Life-size t rex head model from front 3/4 view. I am also in frameLife size t rex head model, from frontLife size t-rex model, from front and staring directly down the barrel of the camera
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Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Walking around in the bush with my head down again this morning. I’m absolutely in love with the gills on this mushroom. I think it might be a type of oysterling. 🍄🌿
Looking at the underside of a frilly oyster mushroom. The different lobes overlap, each other kind of like a nudibranch, it’s tan gills form, beautiful, ripping patterns.
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🦋 Alie of the Woods 🦋 @humanbyweight.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I found a cricket leech after work today! :0 Cricket leeches are the larval form of solitary wasps in the family Rhopalosomatidae, which is the ancestral branch of all paper and potter wasps.
A photo of a dark bean-like entity stuck to the side of a cricket between its body and left hind leg. The cricket's posture looks like if a basketball player was trying to hide the fact that they got bit by a tick the size of a poodle, carrying it casually under one arm. The wasp may not directly kill its host, but the loss of so much hemolymph will likely reduce the cricket's lifespan. A photo of the same unfortunate pair from further away, so you can see the scale of the parasite. The cricket is gravid and will likely lay her eggs soon, parasitic wasp be damned. #girlpower
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Free hugs for the start of spooky season #Arachtober
Photo of a crab spider, legs raised in a "hug me" pose, on a yellow flower wet with dew. The spider is a pale green-yellow-white color with dark reddish bands on its legs, face and back and green stripes on the side of its "head"
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CassWArt 🌴 @casswart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Animal Awareness Days for October and 2026! 🎃🐙🦝 - Int. #SavetheVaquita Day - Oct 10 - Online #PortfolioDay October Tues, Oct 13 As always, Mark your calendars! Plan accordingly. 📑Google Sheets Link: tinyurl.com/52svzknm 📅Google Calendar Add on Link: tinyurl.com/bdzhycfn #AnimalCal #SciArt
Image of Animal Day Awareness Calendar for October 2026, There is a URL link for a web page view for easy text to speech. 

This is an ongoing project of digital sketches featuring a wide variety of animals using the Animal Day Awareness Calendar as a prompt and guide. It's a way for me to take time to explore their anatomy and deepen an understanding of different fauna while also highlighting conservation efforts.

► * days that fall on different days from year to year																									
► Days highlighted in green, yellow, purple are highly recommended to participate
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Arachtober @arachtober.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
October 1st marks the start of the 20th year of #Arachtober! Join the celebration throughout October by sharing your photos of #spiders, scorpions, and other #arachnids using #Arachtober. Explore the hashtag and connect with other enthusiasts around the world. Learn more at Arachtober.com
Arachtober 2026 written in spider web.
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Arachtober @arachtober.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For #Arachtober 1st, an image I have been saving for 11 months. This encounter was exciting because Pirate Spiders do not weave orb webs. They commandeer other spiders' webs. She likely ate the resident. This was the first I have seen in a web. Pirate Spider (Mimetidae) #macrophotography #spider
Small white and tan spider in an orb web.
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K | Science Nature & Art (and weirdness) @ksciencearts.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Making a mushroom hat becuase I can
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Aimee Cozza Illustration @aimeecozza.com · 30/09/2026
With 9 more artists added last night, HireHumanArtists.com is taking a break for October at 666 artists (muahaha Happy Halloween)🦇 However, we'd like to try to get the word out a leetle more to potential hiring clients... So we're looking for places to shout. #hha
hirehumanartists.com
Find an Artist Who Doesn't Use Generative AI | Hire Human Artists
Looking for an artist for your next project? Our human artist directory is full of over 400 artists who have pledged not to use gen AI.
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This painting was featured by the Chicago Ornithological Society in the fall issue of their quarterly magazine, The Chicago Birder The org does great work with restoring and maintaining local habitats and advocating for protections for our local and migratory birds! www.chicagobirder.org
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When people in power deliver bad news to you, they expect you to just take punch, accept it, and move on. In these situations, we need to empower ourselves to reject the premise. I want you to look at three time points in the fight to save the academy of natural sciences with me. (Thread)
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Matteo Farinella (he/him) @matteofarinella.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
My advice as a science illustrator is that if you ever get a chance to draw the Cambrian explosion, you should go all in and spend hours researching every single one of these insane animals. 🦞🐙🦀🦑 Evolution is such a trip. I'm so grateful to have briefly existed on this gorgeous planet. 🤯 #sciart
Cambrian Explosion by Matteo Farinella
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I have a book resting on the headboard where I sleep and just now I noticed a bookmark sticking out and I didn’t remember using a bookmark so I touched it and it RAN AWAY because it was a house centipede and we both freaked out but now we’re fine
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This book is thick with D&D 5.5 knowledge and also my ink drawings!
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Petra Korlević @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
aaaaave Hornereertoooo graaaazia pleeena
extremely silly digital doodle recreating the three kings visiting jesus, but it it all hollow knight characters visiting baby hornet in a crib with mama hornet and papa hornet next to her
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*that* Heather Hudson @artofheatherhudson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Avoid the infinite recursive loop! Done is beautiful!
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Something I find very challenging about larger works is that by the time I get halfway through I've Learned Things and now I can see where I should have Done It Better and I want to redo it but that way leads to madness
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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 29/09/2026
It’s Launch Day, darling! This one is not cozy or for the faint of heart, please note the warnings, but it’s here at last! And while you should read in the way you like the best—dude, Neil Newbon’s narration knocks it out of the PARK. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/813073...
penguinrandomhouse.com
Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion by T. Kingfisher: 9798217298594 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The roguish charlatan Astarion will free himself from a centuries-long fate of servitude or die (a second time) trying—in this decadently dark fantasy adventure by award-winning author T. Kingfisher.....
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Chambered nautilus study
Photo of a painting of a chambered nautilus in green-blue water. The nautilus is dark red, pale orange and white with blue shadows. The shell is striped, counter shaded so it's darker on top and lighter on the bottom. The painting rests on a wood table, and a paintbrush is visible in the upper left corner.
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Maybe It Will Happen Today @today-maybe.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
A long horizontal sign based on the ones at CTA stations that tell what stop you’re at. It’s gray with red, purple, and brown bands at either ends. Four pigeons are perched on the sign in various pigeon poses as a sunrise is seen in the background. The sign itself reads, ‘Maybe It will happen today’
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Tom Larkin @tomlarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We’ve spent many, many hours over the past few months searching the rock pools of Cornwall for a rainbow sea slug. Today, we finally found one! Absolutely worth all the time we’ve spent - it was truly breathtaking.
Rainbow sea slug on a rockRainbow sea slug on a rockRainbow sea slug on a rock from aboveRainbow sea slug on a rock
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Earl GreyGory (he/him) @earlgreygory.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pass without Trace from start to finish. This piece will be on display in Lititz, PA for the month of October at Weaving Willow Crafts, stop by to check it out! #sciart #videoart #gardeningfeed #invertefest
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Three little birds 🪶 🐡
Photo of three small paintings laid out together on a wood desk with the detail brush used to paint them. The left most painting is of a belted kingfisher perched on a dead tree branch against a misty blue-gray background; the middle painting is of a least bittern gripping a plant stem and looking upwards against a golden background; the right most painting is of two great egrets in breeding plumage standing the top of a tree against a stormy looking background.
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Allison 美林 Chin @allisonchinart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Coral Tower
Artwork of various coral shining in the sun . Chromis fish swim around the coral structure.
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🦇 Murphy @mjosmurphy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A JRPG where you collect and battle artistically blurred creatures. Call it Bokehmon
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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is a super nerdy plug, but I really have enjoyed working for Highlights, and a couple of the magazine covers shown were ones I wrote for! www.cbsnews.com/video/highli...
cbsnews.com
Highlights magazine celebrates 80 years
For decades, children have sent Highlights magazine their drawings, poems, questions and concerns. Now Highlights is turning 80. We took a look back at the beloved magazine's history.
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Reconstituted a set of partly dried up Nicker paints and kind of regretting not recording it because watching chunky gummy goop blobs transform into smooth buttery paint is life affirming
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Tested today: - Kutsuwa Hi Line T'Gaal - Kutsuwa 2 Maiba - Staedtler metal sharpener All of them worked really well on the pencils shown, though when I sharpened a Ticonderoga only the Staedtler gave a good clean point
Photo of three handheld pencil sharpeners and four different pencils all sharpened to nice sharp points
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Seeds
Closeup details of a painting of a lotus pod and leaf. The pod is showing large bluish seeds set back into brown and green divots, with the flesh of the pod shaded green around the seeds then turning bluish around the edges. Part of the stem and leaf are also visible, both a heavily saturated green.
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Esther van Hulsen wildlife art @esthervanhulsen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A few of the prehistoric bird drawings drawings left. I am going to donate 50% of the proceedings of these drawings to the poor people of Nepal. The drawings are 8500 Norwegian kroner. Just contact me if you want to help. Copic Marker and colored pencil on Fabriano paper 13.8" x 9.8" (35 x 25 cm)
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If you care about keeping the Academy of Natural Sciences open to the public in Philadelphia, I need you to read and share this thread. Trish Wellenbach was sent from the mayor's office to oversee the Academy of Natural sciences situation. She needs to hear from us. Here comes the action item:
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Phineas @phineas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Maybe I should have led with this photo from the end of the carousel. Don't want anyone to miss it. Punk AF.
Juvenile green heron in profile standing and looking to the left, with the sun bringing out all the greens and blues and reds in their feathers. They've also got all their green head feathers standing in a mohawk. Punk's not dead.
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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
For #FrogFriday, a Spotted Whipping Frog (Polypedates maculatus), from Goa province in western India. Why are they called whipping frogs? The answer is in the ALT text. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿
Angled down side image of a frog perched on a green leaf, and facing left. The frog's ground color is a golden brown, overlaid with many small spots and blotches of darker brown. The eye is large, the iris is coppery in color, and the pupil is dark and horizontally elliptical. These frogs are "foam nesters" - while in amplexus, mating pairs position themselves on leaves or branches over water. They exude sticky secretions that is "whipped" into a foam, using their hind limbs. The foam hardens and encases the fertilized eggs, keeping them moist while protecting them from predators while the larvae develop. The next heavy rain disintegrates the foam nest, and washing the tadpoles into the water below.
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Artists that use colored pencils, esp Caran d'Ache and Faber Castell Polychromos, do you have a preferred sharpener?
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Beetle 4/11 - Anthaxia #Art #SciArt
illustration of a dark green-turquoise iridescent beetle with two big streaks of vivid red and two dark blue on the wings. The entire animal's surface is visibly mottled with fine hair on the legs.
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ElectroCeratops @ehrenenglish.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"OWL RLY" Acrylic and paint marker on birch panel. My piece for the Hoot art show, part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival this year. It's up right now for another 2 days at Beyond the Pale Brewing in the Byward Market. Painting is also for sale! #art #owl #retrogaming
An acrylic painting of a snowy owl character playing an original game boy. Bright retro colours and an abstract background. Perhaps a resemblance to an ancient meme.
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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I painted a leaf
Photo of a large painting in progress resting on a wood desk surrounded by the used to paint it. The painting is of a lotus pod full of seeds in front of a lotus leaf that is turning from green to yellow. A spider sits atop the seed pod and there are snail eggs on the stem. Only the leaf and stem are completely painted.
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Moths in a human suit (they/them) @lycomorpha.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Finally back to this for a few. 😌 Doing the 2nd layer of shading on each moth, one colour at a time, going from light to dark
Four light coloured pencils, in creams and beiges hues, being held up in front of the moth drawing in this thread. These are the palest colours that will be used on the moths and in detailing the leaves.The light coloured pencils from the previous pic being used to add highlights and pale stripes to the moths wings.A close up on the first of the darker shading colours being used to fill in a layer on the moths body.Five colour pencils in increasingly dark shades of brown being held up in front of the moth drawing.
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Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Jumping spiders of the world! 🕷️🌎
An illustration by me featuring 16 different species of colorful jumping spiders of all shapes, sizes, and colors. They are illustrated on a light orange background. Species featured from left to right, starting from the top row:

Ilargus coccineus

Regal jumping spider (Phidippus regius)

Horned-owl peacock spider (Maratus bubo)

Metallic blue jumping spider (Thiania bhamoensis)

Second row:

Flying peacock spider (Maratus volans)

Magnolia jumping spider (Lyssomanes viridis)

Apache jumping spider (Phidippus apacheanus)

Red-backed jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni)

Third row:

House jumping spider (Pseudeuophrys lanigera)

Jade jumping spider (Siler semiglaucus)

Paradise jumping spider (Habronattus americanus)

Ant-mimic jumping spider (Myrmaplata plataleoides)

Fourth row:

Bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax)

Coastal jumping spider (Maratus speciosus)

Green jumping spider (Mopsus mormon)

Golden jumping spider (Paraphidippus aurantius)
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Emily Hare @emilyhare.com · 24/09/2026
Trying out a new medium (acrylic ink) and doing my first self portrait in 10 years! It’s a bit too pink, and I lost the white of the paper on the bottom lip, but I am pleased with the outcome! I still prefer watercolour 😂
Portrait of me in acrylic ink. I have dark curly hair with a lot of grey and blue eyes and a square shaped face
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Keith Ammann 🔜 Gamehole Con @themonstersknow.com · 23/09/2026
🎶 At laaaaaast 🎶
The hand of the author, holding an actual, honest-to-goodness copy of Remonstered! The Monsters Know What They're Doing.
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