wildlings and endlings

original drawings and paintings by Chantelle Chapman. traditional artist-illustrator working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, ink, and gouache. I use my work to tell stories, mostly about animals. website ✧ instagram ✧ bsky ✧ art for sale my sideblog is extinctionstories

[chantellechapman]

My name is Chantelle Chapman. I am an artist and poet based in Atlanta, Georgia, working in traditional media including oil, watercolor, ink, and book arts. I have a BFA in Art from Kennesaw State University, with a dual concentration in Painting & Drawing and Illustration and a minor in Art History.

My greatest source of inspiration is natural history, and much of my work focuses on animals, plants, and conservation. I run the blog @extinctionstories​, where I share narratives about lost and vanishing species. (Storytelling, itself, is my other great love, and folklore and fairytales are another strong theme in my illustration work.) I also make handcrafted products featuring my art, such as stickers and greeting cards, as Wildlings and Endlings.

Thanks for checking out my work!

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[chantellechapman]

I love fossils. Along with the important information they contain about the past, I think of them as a sort of naturally-occurring art—impressions of long ago moments, captured in strokes of stone and sediment. Specimens like the Berlin Archaeopteryx, or the Gobi oviraptor on its nest, display a quality of drama and ‘composition’ that I honestly aspire to as a painter. Equally fascinating are the finer details that may be saved in a fossil—characteristics as fleeting as the patterns in a butterfly’s wings. The insect shown in this painting lived over 30 million years ago, but thanks to a single well-preserved fossil, we have a good idea of its appearance. Excavated from a fossil bed at which several creatures had been given names pertaining to the Ancient Greek underworld, this butterfly was called Prodryas persephone—still beautiful after her countless eons underground, a true Queen of the Dead.

I created this painting with traditional gouache on 12x15 inch watercolor paper. Its title is ‘Nibble (Prodryas persephone)’.

[extinctionstories]

My EXTINCTION STORIES solo show is now open at the Mable House Arts Center in Mableton, GA (NW metro Atlanta)!

Inside, you will find haunting visual narratives inspired by the irreplaceable species that humanity has squandered and lost, from the faraway thylacine to the once-familiar passenger pigeon.

Included are nearly 30 of my original works, many of which are being shown here publicly for the first time ever—I even painted three new birds especially for this show!

The exhibition has free admission, and runs until May 15th—so don’t miss your chance to see it before it goes extinct! 🦤

[extinctionstories]

Even since I completed 'Parakeet Lost', my ambition has been for it to receive a full exhibition. This month, it's finally happening! The show is being hosted by Heirloom Antiques & Art Gallery in Powder Springs, GA, USA. It includes all nine pieces from the original series, as well as an additional two of my parakeet paintings. Prints will also be available for purchase on site, while supplies last.

If you are in metro Atlanta, please try to stop by during the reception next weekend, March 14th 2026, from 3-5pm! 🦜 (Psst: I'll also have some extra stickers for people who mention Extinction Stories!)

[glarnboudin]

Holy shit that's incredible! This is a huge milestone - happy for you!

[chantellechapman]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your support! 😊

[chantellechapman]

'Those Who Hunger (Black Vulture)', the second piece in my series inspired by the Beatitudes. Gouache on watercolor paper, 22x30 inches.

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[chantellechapman]

‘An Old Fashioned Swan Song’, traditional ink and watercolor, 6x8~ inches. Happy Valentine’s Day! 🦢💖

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[chantellechapman]

‘A Taste for the Finer Things’, traditional graphite drawing on 11x14 Bristol board.

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[chantellechapman]

What’s that old rhyme—“red touches yellow, kill a fellow; red touches black, friend of Jack.” A pithy snippet of information that might mean the difference between a memorable animal sighting and a fatal bite incident. Knowledge is like that: it can lead a person into temptation, or provide the means of their salvation. Watch out for those who seek to deprive you of the choice to learn for yourselves.

The title of this painting is They’ll Tell You It’s Dangerous. It is traditional gouache, on 11x14 inch watercolor paper. Here’s to the Year of the Snake! 🐍

[chantellechapman]

Impala in traditional pen and ink wash, one of my faves from Horntober.

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[chantellechapman]

N is for Numbat!

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[chantellechapman]

On this final day of the old year, here are nine of my favorite paintings that I did in 2024!

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[chantellechapman]

Warthog. Traditional watercolor on 3.5 x 5 inch paper. Very happy with how this little guy turned out! 🐗

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[extinctionstories]

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and wishing everyone a new year full of happiness (and humor!) 🎄🦤

[chantellechapman]

‘Ursa Minor’, the little bear, another piece from my constellation series. Traditional watercolor and colored pencil, 6x8 inches.

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[chantellechapman]

Looking for Thumbelina, oil on canvas, 9x12 inches. shop, instagram, bsky, ko-fi

[extinctionstories]

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

The Cerulean Warbler isn’t extinct. It isn’t even officially classified endangered. The species is, however, one of over 1000 different birds listed as near threatened by the IUCN—a perilous group that includes nearly ten percent of all birds on earth. And, like many of those other species, the Cerulean Warbler’s numbers are declining.

Of the neotropical songbirds—those that migrate seasonally between North, South, and Central America—the Cerulean is the one disappearing at the most rapid rate. Once a relatively common bird, the commonest warbler in some places, the Cerulean has seen its population drop by an estimated 70% over the past fifty years—a plunge that can be tired directly to habitat destruction throughout its range, most notably by the coffee industry. (You may have heard of bird-friendly coffee, which is farmed using methods that help preserve vital habitat.)

Current estimates suggest that there are slightly more than half a million Cerulean Warblers left. Maybe that sounds like a lot; remember, though, we lost the passenger pigeon, a species that once numbered five to seven billion.

Unless more is done (unless so much less is done), it’s only a matter of time until this bird—until a thousand others—does become endangered, even extinct.

Not every species has yet had its name inscribed on the Red List, but all are at risk.

Ourselves included.

.

The title of this painting is The Meek. It is traditional gouache, on 18x24” watercolor paper.

[chantellechapman]

🎶Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat—oh wait, wrong song. 😅 Anyway, here’s a partridge in a pear tree that I painted as an ornament design! Oil on wood, 4 inches round.

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