Imperial Moth Drawing

A few days ago while walking Lani outside early morning, I saw what I first thought was a leaf on the ground.  Then I realized it was moving.  When I walked up to it, I thought sure it would fly off but it just remained in place.  Not sure if injured or if feeding.  

The size of this moth was about the size of my hand with wings spread out as seen here.  What looked like brown and yellow is actually a brownish purple color and I tried to capture as close to life as I could.

6B BJD pencil, Liner 1 pencil, and Gouache.  Because the moth had a fuzzy look to it, I chose the 6B pencil to capture that look.

Pesky Pests

 As I sit at my desk swatting a gnat flying around my face, the idea came to me to sketch some of the major pests we have where we live.

With warmer weather, these pest are coming out in groves...especially the mosquitos and gnats.   The Palmetto bugs tend to try and get into the house when the weather turns cold or hitch hikes on our dogs when coming back inside.  The midges are not here yet but it's just a matter of time.  As for the red ants, we try to keep them under control.  We spray down into their ant hills or pour scalding hot water down the holes.  It helps for a short time until they move elsewhere with new ant hills popping up.  The one pest (not shown) that we do NOT look forward to are the love bugs.  They make a horrible mess on our vehicles.

Sketching with the Peppermint brush tool on Ipad.

Variation of Bees

My eldest granddaughter decided to go in with me working a challenge through the month and we agreed on sketching bees.  So far I have worked four different types in four different mediums.

This has not only been fun but very educational as well....even at my age :-)

 

UPDATE:  My granddaughter's bees (09/22/21)

First is using Procreate and the second is in her sketchbook.  She makes her "Mammaw" proud!!!

Swallowtail Butterfly in Graphite

Before I jump into my next challenge requested of me, I decided to draw this butterfly that showed up outside the window where I sit throughout the day.

I had no idea what kind it was until I looked it up on the internet.  Turns out to be a Swallowtail but not sure which one.  Might be considered an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail or maybe a Black Swallowtail (at least so far from what I've been able to find).  

This one was primarily brown (a reddish brown) with off white or cream "white" spots.  Also had suggested spots of powder blue towards the bottom of the wings and above the "white" spots.  In the photo there's a hint of orange just below the long segment of the body where one white spot is split in the center.

Worked in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook with Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2B and 4B pencils.

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

I wonder if these are the culprits leaving their mark on our plant leaves ...... probably.  We also have snails that like to dine on our plants that we have to remove from time to time.  Glad our plants are being enjoyed by other than ourselves..........ha ha.

We see more of the larger green and yellow grasshoppers than we do these black ones.  Some of the black grasshoppers have yellow stripes whereas some have more of an orange to red stripe.

FIbook75x75 / DS watercolors / Falcon w/Lexy Grey ink

Another Cuttlelola Dot Pen Sketch - Yellow Jacket

This is from a photo of a yellow jacket crawling on the window back in 2011.  My third sketch for the challenge set by Clare using the dot pen.

I'm glad she set this challenge as it made me dig it out and actually use it.

Zeta sketchbook / QoR watercolors

Memories

This month for Cathy Johnson's, Sketch With Me virtual outing, we are to sketch Memories of when we were growing up.

I chose when I first learned I was allergic to bees.  As young as I was, I still remember this incident as if it happened yesterday.

Bumblebees and Honey bees are the ones I react horribly to.  Wasps and yellow jackets, not so much.  But even with that, I am terrified of all stinging bugs.  The other tiny terror is the tick.

HSFab01 / Fab Art 140lb watercolor paper / DeAtramentis Document Brown ink / Lamy Vista

2018 Inktober - Days 12 - 14

I was in the mood to sketch trees so for two of my days, that is what I worked on.  One with a bit of imagination and one more realistic.

The Cicada was out on our front porch and thought would be great subject to sketch following the trees.

75 Day Challenge - Days 57, 58, and 59

Only 16 days remaining :-)

Day 57 - Pretty self explanatory.  Worked in small Beta journal.

Day 58 - Using my little bear to depict how I was feeling yesterday.  Worked in cartridge paper sketchbook using a Micron 02

Day 59 - Worked early this morning in small Beta journal