Red Admiral Butterfly

• Subject: Red Admiral Butterfly
• Medium:Watercolour
• Completion Date: January 22, 2004
• Completion Time: 70 hours
• Dimensions: 14'' X 10''
• Background: Paint effects

Unusually this portrait was inspired while walking my dog in the local park one summer’s day and happening upon a dead Red Admiral butterfly between the blades of grass .

The dahlia was growing in my garden so I took a photograph for reference and started planning out the image by pinning the butterfly onto polystyrene.  I used a magnifying glass to see the fine details.

After blocking out the image of the butterfly with masking fluid, as well as flicking areas of the background, I laid down washes which were immediately sprinkled with rock and sea salt.  Ripped pieces of cling film were placed on the wet paint to make foliage shapes.

The dahlia and the butterfly were then completed using intense washes of paint.