Tropical Butterfly Illustrations

I love to illustrate and don’t get to do enough of it in my daily work, so sometimes I create projects for myself. Such was the case with the series of tropical butterflies I illustrated.

Each is illustrated full size using a mixed media technique I’ve perfected over the years that I thought would be especially effective in trying to capture the luminous colors in butterfly wings. It involves using both sides of a high quality velum, markers, colored pencils and inks.

The five butterflies illustrated are: Morpho anaxibia, Morpho hecuba, Ornithoptera chimaera, Papilio blumei, and Caligo placidianus.

Why those? Mostly aesthetic reasons. I loved how they looked together with their various colors and shapes, however I did try to find ones that were all of similar size.

Four of the five butterflies are drawn showing the top of the butterfly. Caligo placidianus is the exception where the underside of the butterfly is shown.

A limited edition run of prints was created and a set of greeting cards produced. The cards are blank on the inside and contain information on the butterfly pictured on the back.

30 Cards for $30

While supplies last you can order 30 assorted butterfly cards for $30.
Cards are packaged in sets of 5, containing 1 of each of the butterflies shown to the left. Each card is 5.75 x 5.75 inches square with matching envelope. (Please check with your post office for square envelope mailing rates.) Interiors are blank. For $30 you get 6 sets for a total of 30 cards. Shipping within continental US included.