Initial thought

In April this year, our city had an exhibition event for local venders and organizations. There was a “Bug guy” who taught kids knowledge of insects. He brought some unharmful bugs for people to touch and I was able to hold one amazing Cecropia Moth. To be honest it was a lot bigger than I anticipated. I absolutely love its pattern and color combination so I want to paint something about it. After trying some sketches, I don’t feel I want to paint its body. The part I like is its pattern and color but not the furry insect’s body. So I decided to draw a mandala instead.

Pattern design

Luckily, all digital drawing software has a function called “symmetry axis” which allows you to draw a mandala pattern efficiently. I use Corel Painter 2021 on my computer. I tried different number of symmetry axis as you can see in the following images. Monarch’s pattern acts like my standard. So if I like the design I made out of Monarch’s color, I can do it with Moth’s color as well. Eventually I choose the design that shows up a pentagram shape.

Once I have the design, I paint them on canvas. To me, nothing replaces the feeling of actual oil paint. However I cannot deny the convenience of digital drawing software. I love them too.🤣

Moth and monarch reference photos

Here are some photos of Cecropia Moth and Monarch butterfly. Nature always has the best reference.