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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 offers sixty 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.

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