Monarch Butterfly
by Omaste Witkowski
Title
Monarch Butterfly
Artist
Omaste Witkowski
Medium
Painting - Digital Reflection Painting
Description
I see a beautiful Monarch Butterfly, Its golden winds spread wide. This butterfly is abstract of course and is flying through my imagination right onto your screen.
Brilliant in orange and black, this insect will fly through your garden in the spring on wings of freedom. It is colorful and graceful and fragile all at the same time.
"The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871, where it is called the wanderer.[3][4][5] It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom.[6] Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9�10.2 cm (3��4 in).[7] (The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller, and has an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the androconium in the center of each hind wing.[8] Males are also slightly larger than female monarchs.
The monarch is famous for its southward migration and northward return in summer from Canada to Mexico and Baja California which spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly. The migration route was fully determined by Canadian entomologists Fred and Norah Urquhart after a 38-year search, aided by naturalists Kenneth C. Brugger and Catalina Trail who solved the final piece of the puzzle by identifying the butterflies' overwintering sites in Mexico. The discovery has been called "entomological discovery of the 20th century".[9] An IMAX film, Flight of the Butterflies, tells the story of the long search by the Urquharts, Brugger and Trail to unlock the secret of the butterflies' migration." - Wikipedia
This painting started out as a picture of handblown glass created by Garth Mudge of Glassworks in Winthrop Wa. Glassworks is located downtown in the beautiful Methow Valley in Okanogan County.
I painted and reflected the original image into a whole new image. I am retaining as much of the original textures as possible. I am using only the colors that originated in the picture when it was a photograph. I am using these colors as a starting point for the picture. Then I choose which textures to use to complement the colors. Then I start painting and when I have painted to my hearts content I create a new layer, reverse it and overlay it onto the original image. I call this a Reflection.
I am really enjoying using the photographs I have taken over the years as starting points for new individual artworks. I lover the tools that are available to help us create ever new and changing art works. A Wacom tablet and Photoshop software have opened up a whole new world of creative options for me
Uploaded
March 18th, 2013
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