I love to draw butterflies! I like to show butterflies in natural postures, instead of the standardized “museum collection-way”, which you see in many books.
Butterflies are among the most colourful animals in the world, and everybody loves them. What better animals to draw attention for nature conservation projects? Their intricate patterns lend themselves very well for detailed vector illustrations, where each dot represents a scale on the wing of a butterfly. Each butterfly drawing costs me up to two days to complete, and who would notice that I only draw half of the insect? The left and right sides of each one are mirror-copies of each other … These butterfly drawings are truly a labor of love.
A beautiful, detailed and life-like butterfly sits on the rim of a teacup. But, wait, the butterfly is a paper illustration and is there instead of the tea label!
We used a tasty Slovenian herbal tea blend, with these life-like butterfly drawings as an advertisement for nature tourism on fairs. They drew a lot of attention to our stand!
For me, it is very important to draw life-like butterflies instead of dead butterflies from a museum. The difference is subtle: it is how the forewings are held. Do you see the difference too?
A fun project was to provide the artwork for an identification guide to Invasive Alien Species in Slovenian forests. The guide went through several printed editions and is translated into English as well. You can download a digital copy free of charge at the LIFE ARTEMIS website
