Oranges in the Desert

This morning's walk was brought to you by the color orange and by the number 3.  It's so nice to see the beautiful colors as spring unfolds into summer.

Checkerspot butterfly - it looks like someone munched on him a bit.

Desert Globe Mallow

Common Valve Assemblies- (not indigenous to this area.)

Four of Wands

And today's card is the Four of Wands, actually drawn (from the deck) a few days ago but drawn (on the paper) today.  When I started the deck, I had intended on using beetles primarily for the figures but hadn't really thought through all of the imagery.  As I mulled over the weekend on how to present this card, the wands (staves, sticks, etc.) just HAD to become stick insects.

Four of Wands

The four wands/sticks support a festive garland.  The card represents excitement and joy coming your way.  Again, I used the Rider-Waite deck as inspiration, but as the four stick bugs looked joyous enough, I left out the two happy figures in the middle. They were going to be beetles, but there just wasn't enough room without pushing the busy-ness envelope. You can read more about the card's meaning here.

So far, the only surprise I've had since drawing this card was finding a wasp in the mail I retrieved from the mailbox.  It stung me right between the fingers and boy did it hurt.  I screamed and threw the mail up in the air and it landed all over the street. I was smart enough to take my ring off before my hand started ballooning. I don't think that was the event the Tarot foretold.

Fourth Instar

A few more sections have been completed, and this piece is almost done. I made a boo-boo in the cobra and will have to doctor it with a bit of white paint. I've left it there for now for entertainment value to the type of person that likes to look for mistakes. I still have the outer side triangles and a few inside spots I want to add to. Five instars is a common number in nature, so watch for its fifth.

 

This is another sketch I made. I know, it makes no sense, but that has never been a limiting factor for me.  I do so like cephalopods. The title is "Oct-ane."  My friend Cindy is going to show me how to make etchings and I think this sketch will be the basis for that lesson. I'm excited, as I've never made prints that way before.

Third Instar

More progress on this one. Still have quite a ways to go. I need to get a wide format scanner. There is a lip around the perimeter of the glass on this regular size scanner that prevents the art from sitting directly on the glass when I use the 11x14" paper block. I think it leaves a slightly fuzzy out-of-focus look.

Second Instar

I posted a pencil draft of this knot ring a while ago. I did the first round of ink work this weekend.  I'm not sure yet how the remaining areas will be filled in, or even if the four corners will be the same. Final dimensions will be a rectangle of about the width and height of the diamond shape you see. I hadn't drawn any beetles lately and I missed them.  It may be hard to see the two big leaves - one has eggs on it, the other has been chewed.  I'm mulling about themes of circles and cycles.

Other recent ink finishes...I'm planning on adding some color yet still to the serpent.