Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and I celebrated with a painting of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Pterourus glaucus) on Blue Spire Larkspur from my garden.
I started with a pencil sketch, then began adding in the black markings on the butterfly with an India ink brush pen.
I sketched in the Larkspur in waterproof ink.
Then I began painting the scene, starting with the butterfly first, and moving on to the Larkspur.
I found that I would have been better off painting the yellow of the butterfly first, then adding the black markings in India ink. The yellows I used: Winsor Lemon and Azo yellow showed on the black ink, so I had to dab those areas with a paper towel while they were wet.
I began adding in greens and shadows made from the purple I was using -- Permanent Blue Violet mixed with Phthalo blue -- and cool Hooker's Green. I love the dark, shadowy colors that result.
If you mix violet with a yellowy green like Sap Green, you get a muddier shadow color. But cool greens and cool violets create a luscious, dark, purple-indigo shadow color.
I love the bits on the top left where the cool greens, violet and dark indigo interact.
Butterflies are fiddly little things to paint and draw. They have so many details, and those details are mirrored in their symmetrical wings. I remind myself that my goal is to celebrate what I see in nature with my art. It's okay not to get everything perfectly accurate. That's what field guides and photographs are for!
If you love butterflies, I hope you'll use these reference photos of the Tiger Swallowtail to make art!
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