Moths matter: A bug painting workshop in January

The Habrosyne scripta moth

A recent workshop with the inspiring Kathleen McKeehen in Kitsap offered a wonderful weekend of insect painting and ferries in the Puget Sound.

For my chosen bug, I decided on the Habrosyne scripta moth, which is found in the Northern areas of North America. My specimen, from a recognized insect provider, was mysteriously a-typical of the usual patterns. I was unable to source an identical reference online, and the supplier was unsure as well.

I started by blowing up the outline to make the brush strokes easier to define. That way, the resolution would be easier to deal with for prints. The actual moth is tiny, like 1.5 inches across.

Since this particular moth was pretty monotone in color, I used a bit of cobalt blue diluted to enhance the reflections on the bottom of the upper wings.

Here I am showing the detailed process of painting the scales of one of my watercolor illustrations of the Habrosyne scripta moth in a mixture of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna (Daniel Smith) watercolor pigments.

Once the base layers of color were added, I switched to a very fine script liner brush to do most of the fine scale detail work.

After all of those hours of work and travel, here is the finished product, and it is also available for purchase as an archival print.

Looking for information on workshops and how to host me as an instructor? Please contact me with your request with details!