Sea Turtle Revisited

Coastal Florida has been a constant source of inspiration for my work. The Gulf, the wildlife, the salt air, and the rhythms of life near the water all find their way into my sketchbook sooner or later. Of all those subjects, few are more recognizable, or more loved, than the sea turtle.

When we launched Heart & Harbor, the idea was simple. Bring the artwork living in my sketchbooks onto something people could wear. The bold linework, the influence of traditional tattoo art, and the imagery of the coast all came together to create pieces that felt connected to the places and experiences that inspire them.

The sea turtle quickly became one of those designs.

Over the years, it has remained one of the most popular pieces in the collection. What makes that especially interesting is that while I’ve shared the finished artwork countless times, I never documented the process behind creating it.

So today I decided to change that.

Rather than digging through old files, I sat down and drew it again. Not to recreate it exactly, but to reconnect with the design and share the process that never made it onto camera the first time around.

There’s something satisfying about revisiting an old piece. You see the decisions that worked, the details you’d handle differently today, and the threads that connect your current work to where you started. In many ways, it feels like having a conversation with an earlier version of yourself.

Heart & Harbor has always been rooted in the intersection of coastal life and illustrative art. This sea turtle embodies that vision as much today as it did when it first left the sketchbook.

I hope you enjoy watching the process as much as I enjoyed returning to it.

--D & J