Operation Fill-A-Frame #2 & #3

I filled up a couple more frames a while back and completely forgot to post about it!

Valentine's Bugs!

This artwork wasn't created specifically for Operation: Fill-A-Frame, it was actually created last year for an Etsy Team Challenge. However, like the frames, it was something I had laying around that I wanted to finish (i.e. frame it) eventually. So the two projects came together perfectly! I had the art... I had the frames... They just needed mats.

I was really torn between matting it in green or red. The dark green went well with both pieces and seemed practical because dark green is easy color to match to almost any decor in any home. But since the art was created for Valentine's day, it made sense to frame it in the obligatory red. People love buying things in red for Valentine's day... for what other reason does every store currently look like red, pink, and magenta came in and threw up all over their entryway!?

I decided to offer the option of either color mat.

They are both pastels with ink. Both pieces are currently $35 each, but check the listings as they may go on sale. I may offer a bundle discount if someone's interested in buying both!

Original "Bee Mine" framed artwork

If you're interested in buying this piece or seeing more photos, it's here in my Etsy gift shop:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65547037/bee-mine-original-valentines-honeybee

Original "Love Bug" framed artwork

If you'd like to buy this piece or see more detailed photos, it's here in my Etsy gift shop:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65546619/love-bug-original-valentines-ladybug

This ladybird beetle one was a tough one- I had an idea for the composition but it took a lot of sketches to get it just right. Ladybugs love climbing around on the grass and the red and green colors look so nice together. The little beetle is pulling down blades of grass into the shape of a heart, and I made his little body slightly heart-shaped too :)

Hydrant Hysteria: Finished!

I'm done!

I'M DONE!
IIIIIIIII'M DOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!

I am sooooo happy to be finished with it!

I think I get so excited about finishing an art project because I sit there and nit-pick every. Single. Little. Detail. and won't stop until I'm pleased with it. I very rarely call something done unless I'm 100% satisfied with it (which is why my paintings take so long). So when I call something done, it means I'm happy! :)
And I finished it before my vacation. What a relief! I still have to clear coat it, but I think I will do that after I get back- maybe touch it up if it needs it, too.

You can see the entire photo set from Hydrant Hysteria here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthasartstudio/sets/72157619272137811/

Today was the last day I worked on it. I went out for a couple of hours at lunch and was able to finish it up.

Unfortunately I had my very first negative comment about it today, too (unless you count the guy who was telling me I should have painted all the chains the same color so it was symmetrical. Symmetry.... barrrrrf).

Some grouchy nasty woman walked by and commented loudly to the people she was with:
"I WONDER HOW MUCH OF OUR TAX MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON THAT."

I sat up, sort of in shock, then yelled back, "I'm not getting paid for this!!"

She didn't look back, and maybe she didn't hear me- She was most likely too busy looking for something else to b!#@h about. I'm pretty sure that complaining consumes most of her energy. What bothered me the most about it, and ruined a good part of my day, was her all-too-obvious implication that whatever was being spent wasn't worth it. So the art of everyone else involved in the project is worthless.
Thanks. Thanks a lot.

It made me realize why so many people have asked me if I'm getting paid to paint the hydrant. Maybe they're concerned about their tax dollars... Ohhhh noooooooooo! I had to explain that it is a volunteer project and really we're just doing it for fun, but it was a juried project, there is also a contest involved, and it's part of a downtown beautification project.

"Like the cows?"
Yes, like the cows.
"And the kites?"
........I have no idea what you're talking about, but yes, probably?


And now.... Hydrant Hysteria by the numbers! Fun!

Number of job offers: 1
Number of times I was asked if I "gotta boyfriend" (no comments made about the hydrant whatsoever): 25.
Number of times someone asked me out for pizza then less than 30 seconds later asked me for a dollar: 1 (I guess I would have been paying for pizza, too!)
Number of times someone wanted me to get in his car with him and go have coffee, then proceeded to run over the curb after I laughed at him: 1
Number of times a grumpy hag ruined my morning: 1
Number of times people honked and waved and screamed out compliments like "Looks nice!": 12
Number of times people stopped and told me the hydrant looked really nice/beautiful/cute/pretty: I lost track. Seriously. Some people were so enthusiastic about it! It felt awesome. Take that, crappy lady.
Number of times random tourists took my picture while painting: 7
Number of times a guy from The Patriot News stopped to take my picture while painting: 1
Number of car accidents I witnessed: 1 (no one was hurt)
Number of times a bird pooped on me while painting: 0! Woohoo!
Number of times a bird pooped on the hydrant: 1. Booooo.
Number of spiders currently living in the hydrant: 3, ewwwww.
Number of spiders I squished: 0. Heeyyy, I'm nice you guys!!!
Number of days a lady who sounds sort of like an old, sick cat was singing across the street from me: 3
Number of hours she sang on those days: WAY too many
Number of times I contemplated going over and suggesting she audition for American Idol: 17 (but I didn't, again because of the nice thing)
Total number of days the hydrant took to complete: 6


Don't forget that next week is National Pollinator Week! Me finishing my hydrant in time for it was no coincidence.

www.pollinator.org

Eastern Hercules Beetle: Bug #30!

Bug #30: Eastern Hercules Beetle, complete!

Here is quite an interesting website about them:
http://entomology.uark.edu/museum/dynastes.html

(I am so sad that I couldn't find a video to include of a clip from "The Nutty Professor" with the mom going "Her-calees! Her-calees! Her-calees!" Oh well.)

I never found very many of these when I was a kid (or as an adult, either). But on the rare occasions when I do find one, they never fail to impress me! They're some of the biggest beetles (if not the biggest) on the East Coast.

At least 5 or 6 times during my bug series, I've looked these guys up for reference photos, then changed my mind. I couldn't think of a composition and kept making things too complicated. I didn't want to duplicate my millipede with a bug walking on an old log with foliage around either. I decided on just a plain bright colored background again, and after scribbling a few colors in the margin of this drawing, picked red as I liked how it looked against the colors of the beetle.

So there we have it, my series is done!
Thanks so much to everyone who followed along, and sorry some of the bugs in the last week or so kept getting posted late. Working on the hydrant in all my spare time meant late-night-buggin', then it just seemed easier to scan a few in at a time, etc.

I'll be on vacation later this week, but when I return, I hope to have some ideas for a new series of some sort! Either more ACEOs, or else perhaps little paintings (8x10's) derived from some of these bugs!

Stink Bug: Bug #28!

This one sort of goes with yesterday's bug. Dung Beetle (doodie bug)... Stink Bug!
I must have had an overdose of silly last week that needed to explode and be explored on paper.

I added some nice smelling daisies to the composition so those might cancel out the stink. It would have been kind of fun if I had those smelly markers and had done this ACEO with those.

No?


Technically this guy is also called a Shield Bug due to his shape.
Fact: this is one of the few TRUE BUGS (Order Hempitera) that I've done in this series. Yes, I've been lying to you most of the time... though not on purpose.
What makes a bug a True Bug?
True Bugs have piercing mouthparts, something like a beak, and they can't chew. Which means he'd make a great dinner companion, because who likes to listen to people chew?? Not me.
Their antennae typically have 5 segments.
They also have half wings, or at least most of them do... the cicada is an exception.
Here's a website with some neat pictures and more information on True Bugs!
http://www.insectpod.com/category/animalia/arthropods/insects/true-bugs/

Dung Beetle: Bug #27

Yeah, that's right.
I did it.

Behold!! The very first (and..... probably last) of some Poop Art.

(Pop art? Poop art? Get it?? HaHAhAHaHHA.)

There are a few common categories of bugs. You've got your charismatic bugs- butterflies, ladybugs, dragonflies. Bugs that everyone loves!
Then you've got what some would consider to be gross bugs- centipedes, praying mantis (Can you believe it!? Some people think they're gross!) and spiders (though they're not actually bugs).
And then there are the bugs that are just silly. Like the dung beetle. These members of the scarab beetle family find piles of animal poop and roll pieces of it into balls. They dig a hole and bury the doodie ball, and the female lays her eggs on it. When they hatch... INSTANT BREAKFAST. That's right, these beetles feed on poop. Lots and lots of it.
Click here to learn all you ever wanted to know about a bug that lives on poop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dung_beetle

"Dung" sounds so innocuous though. I mean, we all know what it is.
It's poop!!!
It would be a lot more hilarious if this bug was just referred to as one of the following:

Poop Bug
Excrement Afficionado
Sultan of Sh#t
Maniac Fecalpheliac
Doodie Roller
Consecrate of Crap

Water Beetle! Bug # 25

Click to see him in my Etsy shop!

Tuesday's bug is a Water Beetle! I don't really know a lot about these guys, except that you can often find pictues of them actually killing small frogs to eat, some people eat them, and some of these water beetles can get VERY BIG!
Those are known as the Giant Water Beetles.

My husband did ask what the background is supposed to be, so just to clarify... This beetle is diving down in some shallow water, amongst some green water plants and marshy reed grass.

Beautiful 6 Spotted Tiger Beetle: Bug 15

I have to admit, this is one of my favorites so far!

Beetles come in so many shapes, sizes and colors. But some of the most beautiful ones I remember seeing in my own yard in the summer were these gorgeous iridescent bluish-green ones. They like to hang out in the woods, on the ground, along paths or near the water.

I've illustrated this Tiger Beetle on a fallen oak leaf, lit up by the sun. I thought the orangey-browns and yellows of the leaf was a good color to really make this bright beetle pop! And when you see these guys in real life, they really do like to be on leaves!

Here are a couple of websites if you'd like to see or learn more about them:
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/six-spotted_tiger_beetle.htm
http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_green_tiger.htm
Click here for some gorgeous results from Flickr!