Designer Alchemy: Natural Science Insect Specimen Painting Demonstration

Earthly Inspiration Sea

A recurring theme on this blog is my obsession with natural science, more specifically; BUGS. I love bugs. Well, that is to say, I love them glued behind glass and hanging on my wall or otherwise, a non-invasive part of my life. I have amassed a rather large exhibition in my living space. House guests have made me aware that not everyone is comfortable next to even less than  lively insectry though fascinated by their intricate, biological design. As such, I’ve decided to paint expressive and colorful representations of these phenomenal creatures so that people may enjoy a decorative representation of nature in their own habitat.

I thought I’d start with a series of leaf bugs in frilly French pastry colors. I noticed the shadows of this leaf bug looked very pink in the morning light of my apartment. How wonderful would a powder room be with  pretty insect paintings and botanical illustrations all over? It’d be something Carolina Herrera would do, I’m pretty sure.

 

 

With my Moleskin sketchbook, I began an under painting of Lukas watercolor Magenta and then layered a Grumbacher Sap Green, and Daniel Smith’s Under Sea Green mixed Winsor & Newton Yellow Ochre and Zinc White Gouache on top. You can see my line drawing underneath with a smooth Black Wing 602 pencil.

It is my hope to use a loose version of the Burton Silverman technique, lifting watercolor and layering gouache until I complete a luminous and layered quality to the work. (Linda Warner Constantineo and Felipe Echevarria taught me this technique).

I continue to build dark values and mid tone layers by using a flat #10 brush and loose strokes. To get the spikes on the legs and texture in the wings I used a rigger brush saturated with Magenta and Undersea Green. You can also see I am starting to block in the figure by stroking in Liquitex Unbleached Titanium White Acrylic paint with Zinc White Gouache and Magenta pigment. From time to time, I’ll take a 1″ flat brush with only water and stroke gently across the painting to reactivate the colors and create “speed streaks” as you can see in the upper right wing.

 

Finished, I am pleased with the look. Since the watercolor is so easy to reactivate I use a can of spray Matte Damar to seal and finish the painting.

Ready for the second specimen, I approach it in much the same way.

I went a little further to pull some crisp highlights with pure white gouache, illustrative lines. Bug boudoir looks pretty to me. Next up I absolutly must reflect on a fine creature I met in Paris.

 

 

Last summer on a fantastic trip to Paris, I found a Goliath Beetle I just had to have. Unfortunately, I had no qualifications to bring it back to the U.S. with me. Thank gods for the internet because I was able to find a very similar one and have it shipped. Isn’t it just gorgeous?

This time I chose the under painting pop color  Lukas Phthalo Green, from the iridescent cast of the wings. Look closely at the framed insect and you’ll see. Shades of green are beautiful home decor colors, my kitchen just so happens to be green and full of botanical illustrations and plants.

With a full idea of my color pallet I moved forward with loose strokes and a #10 flat brush.

Again, with the loosely referenced Silverman technique I washed in layers of Winsor & Newton Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber while lifting some areas out to reveal the green underneath. Notice the strokes escape the boundary of edges, that’s fine because I’ll be blocking the figure in later, I also like the effect if a few shine through.

For the “black” graphic pattern on the back and head I mixed all the transparent deep colors, Phthalo Green, Burnt Umber, Undersea Green and Burnt Sienna, allowing more or less of a color to dominate the pass. The Zinc White Gouache contrast the “black” with some strokes of opaque Yellow Ochre on top to give the head and body form and depth.

 

To finish, I blocked in Unbleached Titanium White Acrylic with Dioxazine Purple and Phthalo Green for shadows under the wings. On top of the whole thing are a few strokes of Burnt Sienna. The finished work was then sealed with Matte Damar to protect it.

There are a lot of ways you can decorate with natural motifs and insects with or without the the actual creatures.

 

These tiny originals and more like them, will soon be available on my Art Store. Until then, have a look at some other decorative prints that are available in my print store here.