Moon moth

I am off on a short break this week so just one image for Beautiful Beasts.
I’ve been working on some prints of the moon lately and as moths are night creatures I have been wondering about combining the prints. I have no time for actual printing so this is a combined Photoshop print, colours I don’t think I could ever achieve in real  life.
I tend not to use Photoshop much but as I am doing an Illustration course I think its time I really used it for the best it can do, which for me is combining images and playing with colours. So many ides and possibilities can emerge.

 

Moon moth, 2 prints combined in Photoshop

Moth Print Development

I‘ve spent a little time with the moths again… no joke ..
This time combining the two plates.

Hmm.. nice possibilities. These are just proofs on newsprint which prints up really well! Better sometimes than the expensive paper. That’s just how it is sometimes ..

Moth second plate

At last I have finished the cutting of the second plate.

The patterns are quite different from the first plate, as I want to overprint and see what happens.

I also cut a mask, using a test print from the first block. I can’t now remember why I I wanted to do this but I had written it down in my invaluable to-do book.
(Note to self: Good idea to add reason or give self some clue or other.)
Anyway I hope I will remember when I start printing.

Test print of number two plate

  .

I was looking at the new plate and the cut-out print from plate one and thought how much I liked the isolated pink moth.

Some more possibilities are suggesting themselves.. sadly not the reason for the mask yet.

More soon..

Moth Print: 2

I am using the moth image for some more systematic experiments. I’m going to try 2 blocks with different sorts of marks and patterns on each.

First background vinyl block and sketch

First proofs and then printed onto the next block.Something I have not tried before. It involves making a registration plate and some careful measuring. Not my forte….

Second block with some different designs.

Moth Print 1

Like Sue I am just back from hols. This time another inspiring visit to a favourite city Amsterdam. Time is short this week so just a simple moth design to try a few print techniques.

Some initial sketches to sort out a design that will be quick and versatile. 

A few further thoughts and starting to cut the base plate.

Charcoal Moth

I had a moth to stay last year, a beautiful but sad female Emperor. She lived in the shed for a while, then outside for a while. It was not a long life. I made these big charcoal sketches today from her rather decrepit remains. It’s nice to be able to breathe a bit of  life into her again.

 

A2 charcoal sketches

The tatty little model is on the box on the left

Female Emperor Moth on box: Charcoal A2

There is a beautiful softness about these moth. Their hair is silky and their pattern slightly blurred.  Despite their distinctive pattern they are hard to see in the hedgerows.

I ask myself, what exactly is it I like about moths?
Partly I think it is because of their exceptionally beautiful colouring and patterns, partly because they are masters of camouflage and mostly that they usually fly at night. All that pattern and colour in the dark? They are truly mysterious things.

I am working on some moth prints which will be mostly to do with the pattern, I think. 

More Moth Sketches & Notes

 
A couple of pages of notes about the gorgeous colours and patterns of some of the moths. 

 

Eyed hawk moth and Elephant hawk moth.. very beautiful things.

Sketchbook Watercolour  8 x4

Moth Sketches

I am doing a bit of exploratory work for our proposed Fenland Book, which nicely ties in with some research from last year, concerning the local willows.  Willows are a vital foodplant for many insect species, including bees of course and some very beautiful moths. I have become more and more interested in moths having watched a couple of moth ID sessions last year and  I am really beginning to appreciate their beauty, diversity and incredible camouflage abilities. The willow it seems hosts well over 150 species of varying shape size and colour.

I am also looking at Fenland moths in general and so am starting off with a few sketches of general moth shapes..an amazing variety I find! These are locally recorded moths so encompass the Great Fen area as well as our small hilly plateau.

 

Many Moths …pencil on A4 sketchbook.

and a couple of colour note sketches….

I do have a small moth trap which I have yet to use so perhaps I will set it up tonight, although I think it is a bit late in the season.