White Admiral

Machiasport, Maine

By the mudflats at high tide.

Croatia

Koprivnica, Croatia

House on a hillside, as viewed from another house on another hillside (with clover, plantain, and bug)

Quartered and drawn

Approx. 1/4 of a butterfly

Found in the jungle south of Pai; stored in a Pringles container until I could paint it. The edges were a little frayed by then.

When you turn it in the sunlight, an iridescent purple spot flashes on and off. 

It's a hard job

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Eastern Promenade, Portland, Maine

When I sat down on the grass to paint this bit of jewelweed, a breeze sprang up on cue, merrily transforming the plant into a wiggly whirl of green and orange stuff. There was a lot of squinting and swearing while I tried, pretty much unsuccessfully, to manually hold various leaves and flowers and seedpods in place long enough to get some idea of what they looked like. Meanwhile a fire ant or something bit me viciously in the rear end, which stung like crazy for a few minutes and then turned numb. At that point I decided the sketch was done.

Milkweed Chronicles, part 2

Milkweed is in demand. See also: Milkweed Chronicles, Part 1.