Painting NZ’s Cutest Native Animal

​The pekapeka or long tailed bat is an endangered native creature which is found throughout the mainland, Stewart Island, Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier and Aotea/Great Barrier Islands and Kapiti Island. I did a little bit of research before painting this cutie and learned that they like to fly along forest edges at dusk and produce only one offspring per year. They can fly at 60 kmph and a bat colony can have a range of more than 100 km2.  These bats like to eat small moths, mosquitoes and beetles.

I started painting this creature by starting with his fluffy little head and working outwards to his wings. I used light washes for the wings to achieve the slightly translucent effect. I used mainly paynes grey and burnt umber as well as a bit of winsor red deep for the ears. The pekapeka painting is one of my best selling prints from the Native Creatures of Aotearoa series – and a favourite among bat lovers!

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