Derek Nobbs’ passion for the old time mysteries of the sea comes through his creation of beautiful art that captures these vintage vignettes and nautical themes is quite a feat. Much of his inspiration comes from his love of the sea. He’s always lived near different parts of the Pacific Ocean, and currently calls Squalor Harbor in the Pacific Northwest home. His watercolor and gauche paintings are interspersed with Civil War uniforms, frontiersman, deep sea divers, and bearded banjo playing skeletons — well, most of his work depicts skeletons — which is more than badass.

One of the hippest aspects of his paintings is his secret recipe he uses to stain his 300 pound, heavyweight hot-press paper. His secret recipe for preparing it? It may or may not “contain coal dust, ambergris, tobacco found in a civil war soldier’s jacket pocket, wolves blood, and the last dregs of whiskey found in his great grandfather’s old derelict cellar.”