Moths in a human suit (they/them)

@lycomorpha.bsky.social

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A collection of moths trying to cosplay a human interdisciplinary artist. MedSci escapee, always drawing or making paint. In my chaos-bisexual-enby-hag era. Moths, paint-making, disability, & art sh*t-posting. lycomorpha.etsy.com & mothsinahumansuit.uk

The TLDR here is that in drawing some fallen leaves that I am absofuckinglutely unsatisfied with on the test sheet for the moth drawing in this thread... However I accept that this is part of the process, and this is why I always make a test sheet.
A temperature and humidity meter on a wall, reading 22.8 degrees C and 49.0% relative humidity.
A round coffee filter covered in deep red gloop has been spread out to dry. The gloop is a lake pigment made from madder root.
Another filter of pink pigment gloop spread out to dry. This one looks a deeper shade of pink and also a little less like sentient ooze.
A thick layer of pink pigment sludge oozing across a filter paper which has been spread out flat to dry. It looks very wrong in a head-tilt kinda way. Or kinda like a suspicious blancmange. Or a slime mold that is oozing towards you with intent. Anyway sleep well, try not to think about the sentient ooze.
A lake pigment made from french black rice, drying on a filter paper. It's forming a crackle pattern and it's dark purple.
A pink liquid being passed through a coffee filter to collect rose madder lake pigment. It looks like milkshake but it definitely isn't.
Six different jars, 4 with lake pigments filtering through coffee filters in the top, two with liquid waiting to be filtered. They're all pink, red, and brown.
A bowl of cloudy pink liquid. The pink comes from a lake pigment that will be filtered out of the liquid.
A red liquid being filtered into a large glass jar through a coffee filter in a metal filter basket.
Dye being extracted from fermented madder root, in a big metal jug on a hot plate. There's a digital thermometer held on a stand in the jug, and an oven glove nearby for picking up the hot jug with.
The workbench near the utility sink is usually white. In this pic it's somewhat more pink than usual because I am a clutz and spilled madder root dye all over it. Not enough facepalm in the world, I tell you.
A very fluffy longhaired black cat with yellow eyes is staring at you. You haven't paid the scritch tax. They are disappointed but not surprised. I should probably put the phone down and make amends.
Unwrapped pans of a grey granulating water colour paint called Friday Grey, sitting on a postcard swatch showing how the paint looks at different dilutions with water.
A collection of lichens growing on a slender tree branch. There's frilly lettuce lichens, branching tube lichens, and fluffy beard lichens, all in muted shades of grey. There's forest in the background.
A grey-blue shade of watercolour paint, handmade with my own paws. The vanity name is Friday Grey and it's a crunchy textured granulating semi-opaque paint. There's a postcard swatch showing how the paint looks at different dilutions with water, and open pans in three sizes sitting in the middle of it.
A super cute buff ermine moth with a triangular overall shape and cream coloured wings with contrasting little black spots. It has thin black legs, round black eyes, and wirey antennas. A+ moth pal.
An empty instant tea tin that has one half of a syringe in it, that used to be full of brown ochre paint. The plunger has gone on a journey behind the furniture I think, and in this friggin heat in not looking forward to trying to retrieve it.
A big and friggin fancy-looking spider resting on a brick wall. It's got a sort of herringbone pattern on its body, long shiny black legs, and very shiny face parts. Very stylish spood, A+.
A picture of a wildflower patch in my back yard, filled with grasses, sorrels, burnetts, knapweed, etc. the point is that there's also a hovering hummingbird hawkmoth. It's very hard to see, I had to zoom in a lot even though I have my god specs on right now.
An infrared thermometer reading 76.6 degrees Celsius. Taken from the top of a black plastic potting tray on top of a pile of gardening stuff in the sun.
A tiny wedge-shaped and furious looking micromoth on a grey cardboard egg tray. It's got blue eyes, black antennas, and silvery wings with light brown stripes and an orange tinge towards the edge. Perfect rage-filled moth pal, no notes.
A beautifully patterned copper underwing moth. It's got a chonky triangular overall shape, a fluffy body, thin stripey legs, adorable big round black eyes, and long wires antennas. It's folded wings are patterned with wavy bands in various shades of brown. A+ moth buddy, highly recommend.
Four brown colour pencils being held up in my hand. Three are Polychromos, one is Luminance. They are in dark sepia, nougat, brown ochre, and 10% raw umber.
More background shading happening on the drawing of three moths on a fallen dry leaves background.
Half pans filled with clearwell yellow ochre watercolour paint sitting in a row drying. They look a bit like mini loaves of bread, except squishier.
The drawing outline now has brown ochre flat shading on the bottom half of the circular background filling in various shapes of leaves. The moths haven't been coloured at all yet. I'm just starting to colour the paler, faded half of the background in raw umber 10% tint.
The background leaf pattern being shaded, on the drawing of 3 moths on a circular background. It's mostly in brown ochre with a little sepia.
The smaller version of the drawing outline now has some flat shading on the background in various shades of brown. The moths haven't been coloured at all yet.
The outline of the three moths on a circular leaf pattern background has been drawn over in colour pencil.
The little test drawings from this thread are pinned to the top of my easel, which also has an A2 light panel living on it. Don't judge me, it's a nice smooth surface to draw on even when it's not in use. Anyway, the main thing on there is a large sheet of nice drawing paper, with two large outlines of the layout of three hawkmoths arranged diagonally across a circle. I make two because then I don't have to start from scratch if I fck up.
A beautiful moth with richly patterned brown and black wings is using its proboscis to drink rainwater from the reservoir held by teasel leaves close to the stem.
A magnificently chonky moth with a densely furry body and wings striped in shades of yellowish browns and tans. It also has delightfully striped legs. Good moth pal, A+.
A small 10 cm tall test drawing for the piece in this thread. It shows a brown patterned hawkmoth on a circular background of fallen leaves. Half the background is faded out to show the moth more clearly.
Many fallen leaves, mostly brown and dry. The point here is that they're mostly of a very generic leaf shape, the classic double pointed oval.
Four small outline sketches, including the two in the previous image, spread out on a sheet of paper. In one of the sketches, the large hawkmoth and dead leaves in the background have been coloured in pencil.
Two very small outline sketches of hawkmoths on a circular background. The moths are only outlined, the circles are filled half in light brown and half in dark brown, in ink.
An extremely rough sketch in a travel journal, showing 3 hawkmoths arranged diagonally on a circle filled with a dead leaves pattern. It's about at the level of a hangry 10 year old.
Two rows of bioplastic watercolour pans on a metal tray, most of which have a thin layer of pale violet watercolour paint in. A few are empty. Two syringes containing about 30 mL of the paint between them, and a swatch showing how the paint looks, sit further down the tray.
Swatch of a pale violet paint that has a vibe like Parma violet sweets. It's very slightly granulating.
A very fluffy buff ermine moth, with a chonky triangular overall shape, cream coloured wings with black speckles, and a very fuzzy body. It has thin legs, and round black eyes under its wirey, toothed antennas. A+ adorable little pal, would recommend.
A lot of very, very stripey caterpillars on a flowering ragwort plant. The dictionary definition of striped should include reference to these delightful blorbs. They are cinnabar moth caterpillars, with bold black and yellow stripes that are aposematic. It's a way of saying "fuck off, I'm poisonous." A+ toxic baby moth pals.
Illuminated text that reads "pls remember to take your meds," in letters made of lichens, mosses, liverworts, ferns, small plants and bugs.
A beautiful swallow-tailed moth, with wide pale yellow wings that are lightly striped in brown. Its hindwings taper to a point, a bit like a swallow's tail. It's fluffy and delightful and looks like it should be a magical creature in disguise. A+ pretty moth pal.
A small summer chafer beetle is slowly pootling along my hand. After some consideration it spreads its wings and flies off on its beetley adventures.
Three different blue violet lake pigments being washed and filtered, using coffee filters, funnels, and jars. The pigment suspension is purple when it goes in, and clear water comes out of the filter, leaving the pigment behind.
A quick pan around a marine aquarium display, showing friggin adorable hermit crabs like the ones in the previous post. They're just hanging out, nomming whatever is floating by work their complicated mouth parts.
A delightful hermit crab perched on a rock in an aquarium tank. Its shell formerly belonged to a whelk, and is covered in tubeworm casts and tiny bryozoans. It's got the classic chonky pinchy front legs and a few walking legs poking outside its shell. Adorable.
A handheld infrared thermometer pointing at a brick wall in bright, crispening sunlight. It reads 60.3°C which is just batshit.
A small battery powered temperature and humidity meter, reading 29.3 degrees C, and 62.7% humidity.
A delightful elephant hawkmoth perched on my arm. It's shaped like a jet plane & is pink and olive green. My arm is pasty and white and covered in moth tattoos. None of them are off this moth, but maybe it recognised a friend.
A tent guy-rope from my moth trap shelter, with my slightly chaotic but bug-friendly garden in the background. If you look closely, there's a robin perched on the rope.
A small European robin - little brown bird with a red chest - standing on a black plastic garden table next to my moth trap. The trap looks like a big plastic box from here, but the point is that it's full of moths that this birb wants to eat. Gahdammit.
Flames in a fire bin with secondary burn capability. It's a sort of steel fire basket type container but with a double wall and a ring of holes at the top that allows for secondary burn of smoke and gases released from burning wood. It's very flamey.
A vibrant wildflower meadow which is right by a busy ring road but is filled with plants and bugs.
Another view of my wildflower patch, mostly showing giant daisy, knapweed and yellow rattle.
A beautiful pink and olive green elephant hawkmoth shaped like a tiny adorable jet plane. It's sitting on a grey cardboard egg tray from my moth trap. A+ good moth friend.
A single orange, fluffy fox and cubs flower growing in a wildflower garden at the edge of the path. It's got a hairy stem leading down to a rosette of fuzzy leaves amongst grass, clover, medick, and tufted vetch plants.
A magnificent magical elephant hawkmoth. It's shaped like a fighter jet if fighter jets were pink with olive green stripes, and went around pollinating things instead of waging war like asshats. A+ moth pal.
A tiny and furious looking garden grass veneer. It's a wedge-shaped micromoth, with lightly striped wings and an absolutely livid expression on its teeny mush. In fairness, I had just woken it up.