Toy Ukulele Illustrated with Hawaiian Marine Life

This is just little itty bitty balsa wood ukulele found in the craft section of a department store. Dirt cheap designed for kids to put stickers on. But I thought it was cool. So cool in fact, that I challenged myself to take a fine art approach to the project. The illustrations are done exclusively with dip pens and India ink.

Now, I know what you are thinking, “can you play it?” Well the answer is yes and no. It is fretted and the miniature plastic strings do make a neat noise, but the tuning knobs do not hold their positions well so an accurate tuning cannot be maintained. Bummer, I know, but what can you expect for a $10 toy ukulele?

LIST OF SPECIES

Fish

Bluestripe Pipefish – Doryrhamphus excisus

Emperor Angelfish (Juvenile) – Pomacanthus imperator

Forcepsfish – Forcipiger flavissimus

Hawaiian Dascyllus – Dascyllus albisella

Hawaiian Puffer Fish – Canthigaster jactator

Humu Humu Reef Triggerfish – Rhinecanthus rectangulus

Masked Angelfish – Genicanthus personatus

Moorish Idol – Zanclus cornutus

Seahorse – Hippocampus

Spotted Eagle Ray – Aetobatus narinari

Yellow Tang – Zebrasoma flavescens

Zebra Moray Eel – Gymnomuraena zebra

Invertebrates

Banded Coral Shrimp –Stenopus hispidus

Banded Coral Shrimp – Stenopus hispidus

Bicolor Gorgonian Coral – Acabaria bicolor

Brigham’s Coral – Porites brighami

Changeable Anemone – Anemonia mutabilis

Christmas Tree Worm – Spirobranchus

Flat Galaxaura Seaweed – Dichotomaria marginata

Gloomy Nudibranch – Tambja Morosa

Hawaiian Bobtail Squid – Euprymna scolopes

Knobby Finger Coral – Porites duerdeni

Knobby Star – Pentaceraster cumingi

Langford’s Scallop – Bractechlamys langfordi

Left Handed Hermit Crab – Calcinus laevimanus

Lined Fireworm – Pherecardia striata

Minature Dictyota Seaweed – Dictyota ceylanica

Mottled Brittle Star – Ophiocoma brevipes

Night Octopus – Octopus ornatus

Purple Rock Barnacle – Nesochthamalus intertextus

Radial Sundial Snail – Psilaxis radiatus

Spotted Reef Crab – Carpilius maculatus

Textile Cone Snail – Conus textile

Tiger Cowrie – Cypraea tigris

Turtle Barnacle – Chelonibia