OniOniOniArt

I'm falling a bit behind here! This leaf beetle is for making more earrings, but I haven't had the time to get them done yet. I'll update the post once I've completed them. [February 27, 2020] Update: They are completed and can be viewed in my shop HERE

Making earrings is usually a two-day process due to the drying time for the varnish, so I'm combining my bug days here and making two pairs! The first is a tropical stinkbug from the Amazon (above), and the second is a lovely blue weevil from Papua New Guinea (below). This post is a photo summary of how I make them... I start with a drawing... Frequently I will make mirror versions using the computer, so they appear to face the same direction when being worn, but these are fairly symmetrical and shouldn't make a difference*. I will also re-size them if necessary. Then I choose the colored pencils I will use... Using a sharpie marker, I outline the drawing onto the shrink plastic sheet: Then I color them with colored pencils: I punch holes for the jump rings and then cut them out with scissors. Besides making the design, the cutting can be the most time-consuming part of the whole process: Here they are cut out and

The dobson fly is a large member of the order Neuroptera and looks pretty fierce, though it is quite harmless. The females do not have the elongated jaws. I have gotten really behind here... [February 24, 2020]

Today I did a quick sketch of eight beetles...I have plans for them...mwahaha! I'm trying to do some multi-tasking with my shop. I've stated elsewhere in this blog that the only true way to multi-task is when you have one project that counts for two things (this counts as my daily bug and as something for my etsy store...we're trying to buy a house, we need some money!) Left to right, starting at the top row we have: Snout Beetle Checkered Beetle Pasimachus Beetle Longhorn Beetle Bottom row: Leaf Beetle Stag Beetle Fiery Searcher June Beetle [Febraury 23, 2020]

I really like the bees so I turned them into earrings today. They are listed in my shop  HERE Other projects using this design: Creative Sprint 2015 Day 24 Day 48 [February 22, 2020]

Leafhoppers are tiny and sometimes hard to notice, but they definitely deserve a closer look. Related to cicadas and treehoppers, they come in a beautiful rainbow of colors and patterns. This one is from California. [February 21, 2020]

I tried a little bit of a lighter hand with the brush pen today. I think I have been pressing too hard; this is an improvement. Then I decided it would be fun to splatter watercolor paint on it (and it was!) I put a small paper cut-out over the head and pronotum to keep it clear of paint. [February 20, 2020]

As a kindergarten student in subtropical south Florida, I was used to seeing the wayward large cockroach (we're talking the 1.5 - 2 inchers) enter the classroom and cause its localized pandemonium in that section of the room until some brave little student stomped on it. Then like good little monkeys we would all run over to make sure it was dead. Threat neutralized. One bright sunny kindergarten day after a heavy rain the previous night, the teacher was reading to us when suddenly the biggest cockroach anyone had ever seen began to make its way across the floor in a strange hobbling sort of fashion (not at all quick like the usual suspects). Everyone gasped, some screamed. It was almost the size of some of our shoes - easily 4 inches - larger than kindergarten brains could fathom. The grotesque hobbling made it worse. The teacher urged us to calm down but made no move.  A brave boy came out and stomped on it dramatically, but the hobbling continued. Now everyone screamed,

This jet-black walkingstick is a relatively recent discovery from Peru.  [Febraury 18, 2020]

I finally attempted to make the Bee cards from my two-color stamps. This project originated in 2016 with a paper cut-out card, and I carved two stamps, one for each color, this year for Day 24 . To me, this experiment was a fail. It was too hard to get the stamps to line up correctly even with the register I made and the corresponding cross-hairs on the backs of the stamps. I showed them to my husband S, however, and he said he liked how they were a little off - that it gave them more personality (or maybe he was just trying to appease my grumbling?). So they're a little off! I need to come up with a better register system... Only a couple lined up good - I threw a few of them away. You can view these cards in my shop HERE [February 17, 2020]

We had several heavy rain showers today that put me in mind of aquatic insects. This is a backswimmer, a member of the order Hemiptera. [February 16, 2020]

Today I helped my sister clean some old junk out of her closets and throw it out or take it to Goodwill. This got me wondering about what sort of fastidious insects might be a good representation of cleaning house for my daily bug project. I chose the ant lion larva because of their wonderful way of unceremoniously flinging the garbage and detritus (usually insect carcasses) out of their funnel-shaped sand traps. It was with this same enthusiasm I tossed all the unused things and garbage into trash bags - I don't know why but it is highly satisfying for me to get rid of stuff, including other people's. [February 15, 2020]

I saw a luna moth float by like a ghost in the evening last night and wanted to make these earrings.  I utilized an old drawing I had on hand - I used this as a transfer previously to paint a moth on a book I made Here are the moths colored and cut out on shrink plastic before baking them And here they are after baking and assembly! They can be viewed on my shop here . [February 14, 2020]

I have had the worst luck with getting sick this year. For the last 3 days I've had a very bad stomach virus and have either been miserable in bed or vomiting in the bathroom. I just got over a cold a couple days prior to getting this illness and I had another cold in December. I hope I'm done for a while. At any rate! Rather than add more horrid roach drawings (which I've been doing if I miss a day) I've decided to just lump the missed days here, and present this syrphid fly sketched with the brush pen. Simple. Done. Caught up! Is it cheating? Perhaps... [February 13, 2020]

This particular scarab is a dung beetle. A very noble profession. [February 10, 2020]

Today's drawing is inspired by tonight's full moon (and I managed to sneak a cat into the Bug-A-Day drawings!) There is a luna moth on her tail. Unfortunately I didn't have time to finish it so it's just a rough sketch. [February 9, 2020]

Just making up another missed day due to illness with another punishment roach drawing. The insides of this roach's sandwich have fallen out. Now he is sad. [February 8, 2020]

I actually missed two more days because of my cold. Here, a terrible roach displays how terrible it is at kite flying. Why Not? [February 7, 2020]

I am preemptively drawing the "missed-a-day" punishment cockroach because I am feeling under the weather and know I would have otherwise missed today. So here is Mr. Cockroach prostrated on his easy chair with hot water bag, cup of (nasty) herbal tea, and comfy blanket. If he was a real cockroach I'd squish him and put him out of his misery. Well, back to bed for me! [February 6, 2020]

Pasimachus is a genus of predatory ground beetle. The pronotum and head are broad and fused. Mostly they are black, but some species have beautiful iridescent green or blue/violet margins. My rendition appears to be dead...squished...sorry Pasimachus. Once the trajectory of the brush pen is in place, it can't really be changed! [February 5, 2020]

Stonefly nymph are aquatic omnivores which spend between one and four years in the water before their final molt into winged adulthood. The adult stage can last a few weeks. [February 4, 2020]

I was struck by the beautiful contrasting colors of this stinkbug, which I more or less pulled off here with colored pencils. [February 3, 2020]

This predatory ground beetle (Carabidae) has a beautiful violet streak down its sides and on its pronotum. This is a sketch with the brush pen and violet acrylic paint. [February 2, 2020] PS - Happy Groundhog Day

Behavior-wise, I maintain that mantispids (mantid flies in the order Neuroptera) are more badass than mantids (arguments here and here and not so much here , but how cute!). However, mantids definitely win the "Best Costume" category with their myriad forms of spines, mimicry, color, and spectacle. The boxer mantis is a good example. Here is the under-drawing, or first layer sketch. Drawings, paintings, etc are made in layers - like constructing a building, you need a sturdy frame first. The first layer is where I attempt to line everything up and make it proportionate. I then do a more detailed second layer, and sometimes an even more detailed third layer. I always start with a light pencil (an HB here), I will sometimes then outline and shade with a softer, darker pencil (a 3B works nice, like this drawing , although I stopped with the HB here). Side Bar:  I made it to one month! Woo! Only two slip-ups which were redeemed with terrible (and terribly cartoonish