Tourist Trap

"Tourist Trap” Florida Alligator: Watercolor; 16in x 20in, (2026)

CLICK TO VIEW FULL IMAGE

Initial pencil drawing on Arches 140lb cold press watercolor paper, establishing the composition of Tourist Trap before any paint is applied.
First washes laid into the muddy bank, blocking in the shrubbery and cypress roots surrounding the alligator.
Cypress trees built up in the background, establishing depth and the dense swamp canopy behind the alligator.
Continued detail work on the alligator's scales and surrounding foliage, deepening values throughout the composition.
Reflections and still swamp water developed beneath the alligator, tying the foreground to the bank above.
Further layers of color and detail added throughout, sharpening texture on the alligator and cypress knees.
Tourist Trap - Finished Watercolor Painting
Tourist Trap - Finished Watercolor Painting cropped close to show detail
The completed Tourist Trap watercolor, 16in x 20in, photographed in the studio.
Alvin Fall IV with the completed Tourist Trap watercolor in his Sarasota studio.
Original reference photograph of an American alligator in a Florida cypress swamp, used to develop the painting Tourist Trap.

Tourist Trap is a watercolor painting of an American alligator resting on the bank of Fisheating Creek, a wild, cypress-lined waterway in south-central Florida near Lake Okeechobee. The title is a nod to Carl Hiaasen's crime novel “Tourist Season” with a bit of local humor. The reference photo was taken by my friend Brad Yunkari while kayaking Fisheating Creek with his family.

This piece marks my first attempt at painting reflections in water, and a step into Florida wildlife as a subject. Capturing the alligator and cypress trees mirrored in the still water proved to be one of the more challenging elements of the piece. Detail is focused on the gator and bank, with the background pushed back through soft detail and atmospheric washes. The viewer is placed at water level, gazing across the abstract reflections, meeting eye to eye with the alligator nestled on the bank.

BACK