An evolving sketch over days--I started over a week ago. All of these were on my deck at the shed at one time...so I did the rough sketch below with a Prismacolor Verithin black colored pencil, then took photos to refine them.
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| These are not much more than quick gesture sketches...I was standing up, the butterfly might move at any time, and the katydid, DID! Sort of a slow-motion sloth effect... |
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| I increased contrast so you could see the lines better...really, mostly just going for shapes and poses here, not detail. |
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| slow-moving but definitely MOVING bush katydid... |
My reference photos were really helpful in getting at the details I'd missed, although I never COULD get my camera to focus properly on the walking stick.
I love the cricket-like sound of katydids on a summer night...
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| I waited a few days to add color, until my new open-stock Verithin pencils arrived from Dick Blick--and then decided to add some watercolor after all! |
I couldn't resist adding the daddy longlegs or harvestman, which strolled up later...and before you say "ick, I hate spiders," these aren't spiders at all! They have their own order, they are non-poisonous, and they eat other small insects. They're very beautiful, up close, like a jeweled mosaic box.
Colored pencil and watercolor.
