Sunday 19 October 2008

Peppered Moth


This moth came into my sisters house during a storm. It stayed for days as it seemed to like it in the sunshine in her sunroom and didn't seem to want to leave. She showed it to me and it was so beautiful I had to draw it. The spotted patterns are so lovely and it was fascinating observing the moth close up. I looked it up and found it is a Peppered Moth and that it has two versions. My light coloured wings with dark markings which lives in the countryside. Then the opposite one with dark coloured wings with light patterns which adapted to live in the town, in the days of sooty black buildings. My light coloured moth likes trees and is camouflaged so well on the tree bark. I used a fine ink pen and a little paint to make the wings slightly off white. My drawing measures about 6inches across. Like so many everyday things we don't see them close up, this was fascinating to look at and I did need to use a magnifying glass to get all the detail. Press picture for a close up.