Home portraits, architectural art and a few other things
28 Aug 2019 5 Comments
in artwork Tags: architectural art, architectural artwork, architectural rendering, architecture, Art, commission art, commissioned art, home portraits, house portrait, pen and ink, pen and ink art, pen and ink drawing, pen portrait, wedding venue
Pencil up
The woman who has had me do the wedding venue portraits as gifts contacted me a couple of weeks ago to do two more. I started the first one and, as always, it is more complicated than would first appear. There is a lot of building there to pack into a 10×8 portrait and not have too much sky or lawn.
04 Aug 2019 3 Comments
in artwork Tags: black and yellow butterflies, butterflies, flowers, giant swallowtail, phlox, pretty butterflies, summer insects, swallowtail butterflies, swallowtail butterfly, tiger swallowtail
What kind of swallowtail is this?
A tiger swallowtail next to the mystery man
I saw this odd swallowtail a few days ago while watering my outside plants. There is always a ton of butterflies on the pink phlox in front of the garage, and I knew right away that I had never seen this kind before.
Thank heavens for a handy camera and google. With a few clicks (I knew it was a swallowtail) I discovered that it is called a giant swallowtail. Not a very creative name, I know, but it is the biggest swallowtail found in the continental US. Males can get to be 7″, but I don’t think this one was quite that large. The caterpillar stage looks like a large blob of bird poop!
It is found across the country though mainly in the eastern half and especially in Florida – not surprisingly because the caterpillar likes to feed on citrus leaves. I really hope to see one again. I’ll be keeping my eye on the phlox.
Ruth's Artwork 