Butterflies and more.....

Sadly the spiderlings had disappeared when I went to check up on them this week but after the weather we've been having I can't really blame them and just hope they've found a safe home somewhere.

High winds and hailstones have caused quite a lot of damage to tender plants but as soon as the sun appears the butterflies and bees are back again. I decided to paint this tortoiseshell butterfly which had finished fluttering around for its allotted time and had come to rest finally in our little church.  It was so beautiful I couldn't resist bringing it home and getting it under the microscope to see it in detail.

   Watercolour

 

 

The head and body of the butterfly is covered in fine hairs which are difficult to see with the naked eye

 

 

Tortoiseshell butterfly watercolour and gouache

 

To emphasise the lighter fine hairs I've used gouache and will be putting a background to the picture, but initially wanted to concentrate on the form  and texture of the body and hairs.

 

Another frequent visitor to the pond in our village wood  is the dragonfly and the iridescent body of a Southern Migrant Hawker [I think] caught my attention last year when it was glinting in the road.  Unfortunately it was dead but still in one piece so I brought it home and managed to take some photos before the beautiful colour disappeared and still have the dragonfly to observe its shape and form.

 

Southern Migrant Hawker juvenile, watercolour, unfinished

 

I think this must have been a juvenile as the colour was green but adults apparently turn a beautiful blue 

 

So work continues on the spiders and dragonflies and I take time out now and again to watch and listen to the bees on our Poached egg plant, Limnanthes douglasii, which is providing them with a welcome source of food and a feast of colour for us.......

 

 

Bee on Limnanthes douglasii