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Insects in Art & Illustration (1 Viewer)

Bees in Art

Active member
Hello Everyone,

I'm just starting off here on the forum and also starting writing a book about insect art & illustration. It's actually the insect counterpart to Tim Wooton's bird book at Crowood Press.

I've got a good idea who I'd like to feature in the book (including Tim, who I've asked to take some time off from painting birds and turn his attention to the Orkney's great yellow bumblebee - it flies - so I'm sure he'd do a wonderful job), but I'm still looking for artists' of all persuasions. I'm using a broad spectrum of artists work from the very disciplined scientific illustration to the very artistic large canvas. So please email or PM me if insects feature in your work.

In the last week or so I've had a number of insects delivered for me to draw, from the egg to adult. This is for my chapter on getting to know insects and where to find to find them.

This is a sketch done through my binocular microscope of leaf and stick insect eggs. Now I'm chewing my finger nails off waiting for them to hatch, so that I can draw the nymphs alongside the eggs.

Thanks for looking,

Andrew
 

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Good luck with the book Andrew!
Such an interesting subject!
I'm afraid I haven't to much to offer but browsing through my old sketchbooks
(almost 20 years back!) I found these creatures, all sketched from life..


Paschalis
 

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..few more...
 

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Username that's a lovely image - very evocative. What programme have you used?

Paschalis - love your insect studies. I've just bought an praying mantis ootheca, which hatched two days after it arrived in the post. Now I'm looking after a couple of hundred mantis? Help. If anyone wants one or two I can put them in the post: free to a good home. I'm keen on your mantis studies.

Colleen - Thanks.
 
Hi Andrew welcome to the best bit of the forum!

Insects have never been the focus of my paintings but they often feature as points of secondary interest. If I find dead beetles or butterfly wings etc they will often be put into my 'collection of interesting bits and bobs' (which my wife refers to as 'disgusting crap') and it's not too unusual to find a sketch or two in my pads now and then.

Insects are so central to the world of birds that it's inevitable that they will sneak into bird paintings from time to time, mostly as food though!

Mike
 

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Hi Mike,

I like the wagtail especially. And I like the post mortum drawing of the stag beetle. I'm just thinking editorially: if the kingfisher was printed in a book, the scale of the insect would likely be quite small - I'm assuming the original is at least A4 ish in size? - but perhaps a graphic insert could be used where the insect is printed as a detail alongside the full painting? Likewise with the wagtail and flies. I find the 'incidental' use of insects in your work interesting and could write about that.

Interesting too what you say about bird paintings and the inevitability of insects finding their way in. But now you mention it I can't think of many bird artists including what their subjects eat for a living. And those that do are depicting raptors or fish eaters. I'd love to see more bird paintings with insects.

Have you drawn/painted a butcher birds larder by any chance?

Thanks,

Andrew
 
Interesting, just been having a look through things I've done, I must say I'm rather guilty of ignoring the insects mostly. Nice opportunity anyway to put all these together! Any you want to use, you're more than welcome.

first some fieldwork:
 

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some illustrations
 

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Hi Mike,

I like the wagtail especially. And I like the post mortum drawing of the stag beetle. I'm just thinking editorially: if the kingfisher was printed in a book, the scale of the insect would likely be quite small - I'm assuming the original is at least A4 ish in size? - but perhaps a graphic insert could be used where the insect is printed as a detail alongside the full painting? Likewise with the wagtail and flies. I find the 'incidental' use of insects in your work interesting and could write about that.

Interesting too what you say about bird paintings and the inevitability of insects finding their way in. But now you mention it I can't think of many bird artists including what their subjects eat for a living. And those that do are depicting raptors or fish eaters. I'd love to see more bird paintings with insects.

Have you drawn/painted a butcher birds larder by any chance?

No shrikes from me I'm afraid Andrew! I think shrikes are made up birds...

Here's some more from the archives.

I like the idea that there's a second level in a painting that takes a bit of effort to discover. Insects in bird paintings make a good example. On first viewing you see a bird painting, then as you look closer you see the insects that are part of the bird's environment, just as it is in the real world.

Mike
 

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And these.

Is there nothing you can't do well Nick?

Mike
 

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I already sent email with link to my ancient insect drawings but for anyone who hasn't seen them I'm enclosing a couple here, along with other work that includes insects.

Yellow Lady's Slipper with fly, Louisiana Waterthrush with Ebory Jewelwing, American Goldfinch with Sachem Skipper, Groiund Beetle, Squash Vine Boner. The last is the insect that comes along and kills your zucchini and squash in what seems like one day. One day they're fine; the next day they're shrivelled up and nearly dead. So if they look a bit evil............
 

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Adding one more here which I'm sure will be largely unrecognizable. But it is the beginning of my change from an abstract artist to a naturalistic one. It's called 'Flea Beetle Falling Through the Empty Cart of Mr. Avant Garde'. It combines the abstract work I was doing at the time with the small pen and ink drawings of insects I was doing at the same time. That's the Flea Beetle at top left. I was really struggling then with the 'avante garde' art world, which I sort of felt part of, and my feeling it had lost its way, and the fact that I was spending time drawing insects from the garden as well as huge abstract paintings.

More personal than anything else but thought some might find it interesting. It took me another 10 years or so before I finally became completely representational. Sorry for this tangent Andrew.
 

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Am enjoying looking at all the insect related stuff...tis all good...[so like Tim said...thanks for starting this thread Andrew]...tho i guess you might be a bit bewildered by it all...;)

Andrew...all i use is an outdated photoshop program...[can't afford the latest one]...:eek!:

As folks round here will know...i always tend to focus in on the 'small things' in nature...the often overlooked...and put a bit of a personal 'slant' on the final images...

Here's just a few more.....

ps..forgot to say...love that abstract Ken..!

http://username-beast.blogspot.com/
 

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indeed, thank you for starting this thread - you seem to have unwittingly got some insect inspiration going on! Great work everybody! Today I even sketched some butterflies AND went on to do plant studies! I never do those usually - the camera is so handy. Thank you Andrew!
 
what a fun thread- since everyone is rifling through their drawers, here's a digi-painted mozzie from a little while back, before and after its legs got swept back to give it some whizz ahead of the gaping maw of the Korean swallow (which I would render very differently these days..)
 

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