Praying Mantis drawing done!

I started this drawing a couple weeks ago in an airport during a layover on our way to Alaska. I worked on it occasionally during the trip, and managed to finish him (her?) today.

Does it look familiar?

When I was creating my "30 Bugs in 30 Days" ACEOs, my husband suggested that I include a Praying Mantis in the series. I liked the idea, so it became the 8th bug.
When I finished the little card, I was happy with the composition and thought it would make a nice full size drawing (full size for my drawings being 9" x 12" or so).

I'm going to display this guy at my feature artist show in August (I'll post more about that later). He's going into a 16" x 20" frame (which I'm painting green with some leftover paint from the Hydrant project) and will be double matted in white with a green inner mat.

A little about the original idea behind this...
When I began sketching out the Mantis ACEO, I knew I would have to somehow compensate for the fact that most people do NOT like these bugs! (I personally think they're very cool.) They're BIG, they have alien faces, and the way they walk is... kind of creepy I suppose. I decided the way to make the Mantis card a little more acceptable to the general public* was to add in some pretty flowers. No hearts or rainbows or glitter, the flowers seemed sufficient. I chose hydrangeas since I thought the blue hue would accompany the green Mantis nicely.

* Not that "being accepted by the general public" is what art is about, but one of the main reasons that I like drawing bugs is to bring attention to their beauty. This mantis is no exception, and the last thing I want is to have people take one look at the fact that "GROSS IT'S A PRAYING MANTIS OMG!!! EEEEEWWWW!!!!!" and 5-alarm-freak-out about it.

I told you I was freakay!!! 8th Bug done: Praying Mantis...

Are you a bug person?

How do you know if you're a bug person?

A QUIZ:
Please see the picture below of my 8th ACEO in my "30 Bugs in 30 Days" series.

Click her to see her in my Etsy shop!

Your reaction is:

• a) "OH HELL NO!!!!!"
  
  
• b) "Praying Mantis. Pretty cool."
  
  
• c) "Ohhhh, it's getting warm outside. I wonder if there are any of these in my garden yet!" (and immediately running outside to see)

If you answered C, yay, you're a bug person! But you're not even reading this, since you went out into your garden.
Those who answered B may not hate the mantis, but might be happier seeing it on the computer or in a drawing than actually being in its presence!

The Praying Mantis seems to be a real love-it-or-hate-it bug. And for those drinking the Haterade, I can almost understand why. First of all, they are BIG. Therefore, they cannot be ignored. And they're just..... strange. They do that stagger-waggle-walk back and forth and creep slowly around, then launch forward to catch their prey in 1/20th of a second.
(The one at my old house used to like to strut around to Tom Petty's "Don't Bring Me Down" as the beat matched its swaggar perfectly. I actually wished I had a video camera to have recorded it. It was hilarious.) And their face, you can't deny- this is clearly the inspiration for a lot of alien character faces.


Thank you to my wonderful husband for suggesting today's bug.

Want to know where the title came from? Check out this Flight of the Conchords video. When I look at this Mantis, I can hear him singing the chorus in Brett's high voice. The rest of the song seems to suit the Mantis too, the strange voices whispering and the electronic- almost alien sounding- music!




* * * * * * * * * *

And now a little bit of insight as to what goes into these cards I've been creating for the past week!


Research: You can see my paper and outline of the mantis on the left, and 3 books on the table. There are 2 Audubon insect guides there, and a book called "Bugs!" from Usbourne Books (great kids' books with LOTS of facts and pictures. I love them, and they have a few other bug books too!). There is also a Park seed catalog and a Jackson and Perkins catalog, for plant and background references.



And here is me, at work, in my studio: Curled up in true potato bug fashion at the couch and family room coffee table. Glad these ACEOs are small.