Saturday, June 23, 2007

Camouflage


Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. A little experiment on the background design, and some fun with the colors on the butterfly.

Interesting things I found on the internet about how butterflies use camouflage and mimicry as a survival tool: Some who close their wings mix right in with their surrounding environment--until they open them to suddenly reveal a splash of color (this might startle would be predators, and many also developed fake "eye spots" to serve the same purpose). The bright colors often indicate the insect is poisonous or an impersonator of a poisonous butterfly. Still others developed bright spots near its hind legs to draw attention away from its head--a bite off the rear wings instead of the head gives it a better chance of survival. Anyway, that's why I thought this would be a good subject for the theme "camouflage".

Check out these sites:
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/facts.shtml
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/butterfly/life_basic.htm
http://dirttime.ws/Butterfly/Behavior.htm

4 comments:

Marie said...

I love this...simple, intersting and a cool technique!
I'm new at this art thing too...LOVE your blog name! I do love my coffee and the art in those coffee houses you mentioned.

cjhardy said...

Beautiful use of color and symmetry. Impressive amount of background information on your subject as well. Like the way your butterfly dominates the picture. Lovely work.

Tracy said...

I really like how you illustrated your "traditional" (army, hunting) camouflaged butterfly! Nice work!

imwithsully said...

Great concept! A camo butterfly is very unique and well done.