Dani Massey
creatureweaver.bsky.social
Dani Massey
@creatureweaver.bsky.social
Creature Designer / Scientific Artist

Pronouns: She/Her
Level: 25

https://linktr.ee/danimassey
Reposted by Dani Massey
Painting practice with an okapi.

The first time I saw one, I was a little girl visiting the St. Louis zoo. I was enthralled. They’re such mythical-looking creatures. I should draw them more often!

Thanks to @animalphotorefs.bsky.social for the reference photo.
December 1, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Photo of the Day: sleepy Northern Elephant seal

All photos on the repository are free-to-use for artists creating derivative/transformative works (sans AI).
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Photos of the Day: please reboot RedWolf.exe

All photos on the repository are free-to-use for artists creating derivative/transformative works (sans AI).
November 24, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
My palette looks like chaos but I can assure you every colour is used and mixed!

Still plenty to paint - progress is slow but steady.

#sciart 🦀 #painting
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
This is a big part of why I founded the animal photo reference repository: because AI slop has made finding good, real references harder while promising using them doesn’t matter… I hope to see more efforts exist to curate and restore accurate references for all sorts of subjects and places.
Using ai for reference is one way to legitimise it but also will make you worse in time. If you care about the art you make you should care about what influences it and where your ideas come from. The world is massive with tens of thousands of years of art and culture and history you can learn about
PSA if you care about your support going to art that is influenced by AI
November 9, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Reposted by Dani Massey
This is my shiny portrait of El Nino the bunny in a pop art style inspired by Andy Warhol!

#animaldrawing #bunny #rabbit #printart #handmade #commissions
November 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
One of the smallest Armored Sea Robins that I’ve ever seen - its body a little larger than a pea.
This is the same species featured in my Aliens Collection Print, “Alien #27”.

#armoredsearobin #searobin #larvalfish #deepseafish #blackwaterdiving #gurnard #chrisgug #gug #gugunderwater
October 21, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
How cute! This Bony-Eared Assfish has a pet amphipod!
And yes, that’s the actual name of this this #fish - the bony-eared #assfish #Acanthonus armatus

#cuskeel #bonyearedassfish #acanthonusarmatus #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #deepseafish #larvalfish #deepsea #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug
October 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Male and female orcas have different belly markings, but with high individual variation, it can still be difficult to sex them reliably! To demonstrate that, our Drawing and Painting Orcas instructor Sara compiled this collage she shared with our class last night. Can you tell them apart?

#whalesky
October 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Bellator militaris — the horned searobin. Just like other armored searobins, they possess modified pectoral fin rays used to walk and detect food on the seafloor.

This specimen is TCWC 6818.17 available on MorphoSource.
www.morphosource.org/concern/biol...

🦑 🌊 🧪
October 20, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
I forgot to upload the video after bluesky got video, here's probably top 3 cutest thing I saw in 2024 #marinelife
October 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
October 15, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Walking on water
August 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
Made a furry new friend. No picnic baskets were harmed in the taking of this photo.
September 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Dani Massey
In celebration of World Octopus Day, we wanted to revisit one of our favorite cephalopod sightings, the glass octopus — Vitreledonella richardi filmed during a month-long #PhoenixIslandsCoral expedition in 2021.
October 8, 2025 at 10:22 PM