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.

14 comments:

Lisa Adams Reed said...

My goodness--you have an amazing ability to do detail! Gorgeous!

kazumiwannabe said...

It's extraodinary! the close up is gorgeous - you did an awesome job drawing the delicate spotted pattern! Beautiful against the luminous blue background, too.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

As always, your closely observed drawings show nature in intricate detail. Lovely.

June said...

What a beautiful job you did on this! It is awe-inspiring.

Kathleen said...

You are such a fine artist thanks for posting this and your other wonderful work - It is all so very well done

Margaret Ann said...

Beautiful work...great detail! :)

no way said...

Wow! The enlarged version is gorgeous-such precise detail. Your artwork is consistently wonderful.

Ricardo Sérgio said...

This is great work.

BARBARA WEEKS said...

Beautifully done. It looks like a Halloween lace!

Monette Satterfield said...

Just found your blog - I am speechless at the beauty and detail of your work! I'll surely be back for more.

Acornmoon said...

A lovely drawing of a beautiful creature. I have also posted some rather lovely paintings of moths on my site by artist Fiona Owen.

Timaree said...

Poor moths do get a bad rap. Butterflies get all the glory. Of course, butterflies don't come into the house when you open the door at night to bug you and they are brighter but the marking on a moth can be pretty nice as you show here.

Ann said...

Beautiful drawing! I loved seeing it larger too, such elegance.

ellie said...

What a beautiful study of the moth, and your berries ( last post ) look like you could pick them off the page ! You are so clever and inspiring !