#invertober every month

[futurebird]

I had a nice time drawing a Pogonomyrmex occidentalis pupae today. I'm trying to improve my drawing skills-- There are many problems here.

-shadow is off, should be more shadow under the gaster (I think?) -doesn't look translucent enough -It's overworked, but I claim that's my "style" (not really LOL) -I made a mess with the blur tool. Had to clean it up, but it still feels blurred. No more blur for me. -I don't know what I'm doing with that blue shadow It's supposed to be reflected light? Like it's not bad, the mandibles look nice. And I feel like I understand the geometry of how ants fold their legs better. Could not find a reference image of an ant from *below* to see exactly how the legs attach. Looked at one of my pet ants and annoyed her greatly!

[brella-boi]

Just wanted to tell you that I love your art, especially your invertober stuff, they’re so silly and whimsical and good to look at!

UWAWAWAWAWAWA THANK YOU 😭😭😭😭

some parts of this month have been horrid and yet I still must deliver you all bug...

i really want to make a little art book of the whole challenge so im currently looking into that! It brings me so much joy to know people have been enjoying the silly little guys every day <3

[colonyworkshop]

Colony Workshop November Newsletter

I feel like I say this every month but- Wow, October really flew by! 👻

There's a lot of drawing I feel like I've missed out on recently. I had planned on doing more for Invertober and a full A5 piece for Halloween. Instead, I've had a lot of work to do behind the scenes and I'm finally ready to share some of it with you-

After a lot of planning and adjusting my artwork I've now got a selection of my favourites printed and ready for my first table at a dealer's den! Pictured above is perhaps my finest work- The Honeybee Gala, printed on thick paper with a decorated frame.

I've got some A5 prints for the table too. I'll share a preview for those a little later in the week (When I get some good enough light for a photo). And also a card reader so that I can take contactless payments!

My main goal for the event is to get my name out there to a new group of people and get a bit of interest in my art pages. Secondary is my goal to make some sales and hopefully break even on what I've spent on stock so far. It could be a bit of a reach to hit this break-even point but I think I've got enough stuff for a few events (Such as another con or two in 2024!)

Wish me luck with this! I'm a bit anxious about the whole thing but keeping optimistic! I'd love to get in on more dealer's dens at cons in the future and also some craft fayres. I'll see how these first few go and figure out what kind of crowd my arts n' crafts draw!

[futurebird]

Invertober 2023!

Invertober is back! The (mandatory) drawing challenge where you draw an invertebrate every day. It's for everyone and *mandatory.* Last year they had no ants on the list! I was very upset... this year there is one ant... an improvement, still so much more room to grow!

Let's shoot for 10 ants next year.

OK here is what you need to draw each day for the month:

Sunburst diving beetle (Themanectus marmoratus)

Silvery leaf cutter bee (Megachile leachella)

Little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata)

Emerald green snail (Papustyla pulcherrima)

Citrus root weevil (Diaprepes abbreviatus)

Coconut octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus)

Common banded hover fly (Syrphus ribesii)

Calico Crab (Hepatus epheliticus)

Elephant hawk moth (Deilephila elpenor)

Periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim)

Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)

Eelgrass isopod (Pentidotea resecata)

Devastating grasshopper (Melanoplus devastator)

Blue glaucus (Glaucus atlanticus)

Owlfly (Libelloides macaronius)

Fuchsia flatworm (Pseudoceros ferrugineus)

Blue morpho (Morpho peleides)

Reddish-brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus)

White-spotted jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata)

European mantis (Mantis religiosa)

Pink crab spider (Thomisus onustus)

Red velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis)

Asian forest scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer)

African monarch (Danaus chrysippus)

Horned sea star (Protoreaster nodosus)

Torpedo bug (Siphanta acuta)

Iceland scallop (Chlamys islandica)

Striped pajama squid (Sepioloidea lineolata)

Tiger centipede (Scolopendra polymorpha)

Leopard slug (Limax maximus)

Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina)

Let's goooo!

[futurebird]

Invertober: First of the pro-ant protest days!

Invertober PRO ANT PROTEST DAYS 2022:

swallowtail ⏩Dynomyrmex gigas

butterfly⏩ Cephalotes sp. group

caterpillar⏩ Eciton burchellii

silk moth⏩Plagiolepis alluaudi

moth⏩Polyrhachis dives

butterfly⏩Oecophylla longinoda

caterpillar⏩ Myrmecia gulosa

Today I did a digital painting of Dynomyrmex gigas, the giant forest ant. I did this one extra large and it took forever. I also remembered to bring my ipad home... so using that to draw in the future will be fun. Please join me in drawing invertebrates every day this month... or as many days as you can.