I’ve illustrated damselflies before (see my blog) and even done a series of postage stamps on these insects.  This commission was different.

The insect in question is the Sarep sprite, Pseudoagrion sarepi.  As with all damselflies, it lives in and near fresh water  and was named after the SAREP expedition to Eastern Angola.  Although similar to a few other species it is indeed a distinct new species.  In fact, it’s one of 60 new Odonata discovered recently in Africa (for more on this amazing set of new species please read the report from Odonatologica).

Drawing up the Sarep sprite

There was no living or dead specimen to work from, but a couple of good photos and an accurate written description proved enough to go on.

Photographic reference of The Sarep sprite Pseudiagrion sarepi

Photographic reference of The Sarep sprite 

As always, the first step is to draw up a pencil rough.  I referred to some anatomical drawings to be sure I got the wing venation and details of the leg hairs more or less correct.

Pencil rough of the Sarep sprite

Colour rough

In this case, the colour needed to be accurate, so I did a quick colour rough for the client (who was radio-collaring zebra in the field in Malawi!  Not like I’m jealous or anything!)

Colour rough of the Sarep sprite with queries

Adding colour to the body of the Sprite

My queries duly answered, I got going on the illustration.  Despite the body of the damselfly being small, the trick is to try and convey the iridescence.  I normally represent iridescence by moving from dark to bright then white areas (for more on this see my blog). This is tricky to do in a tiny area like the thin abdomen of a damselfly, so I used a really small brush (Winsor and Newton series 7 size 000).

Work in progress

It’s a wonderfully gaudy damselfly with magenta legs, pale blue terminal abdominal  segments and the iridescent green body.  I used my trusty Doctor Martins Hydrous watercolour inks to get the clear bright colours.

Once I’ve finished with the body I move onto the wings, painting in the veins first and finally giving a suggestion of the transparent “panes” with pale blue and yellow paint washes.

Sarep sprite illustration in progress

Once I’d completed the illustration I sent off a scan to the client, querying the yellowness of the body.  She decided the body was a darker green.

Sarep sprite initial final illustration

Tweaking the final illustration

Darkening the green of the abdomen without losing the glittery iridescence was tricky.  However, with a judicious mix of indigo and purple I managed to knock back the bright grass green to something a little more subdued, without compromising the areas of shine.

Finished illustration of the Sarep sprite Pseudoagrion sarepi

The most exciting aspect of this job was knowing I was painting a species which had never been drawn before.  That is a real honour.

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I really learnt to love these amazing animals whilst working on a series of postage stamps for Jersey Post (see my blog on this “dream job“); and this affection continues.

Identifying dragonflies

Dragonflies are glorious insects, but sometimes identifying them can be tricky as their colours are highly fugitive; once the animal dies its’ colours fade swiftly.  For details of all these species and their distributions, I find British Dragonflies by Smallshire & Swash an invaluable reference. If you also refer to the resources available online through the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) dragonfly identification should pose no problems.

Emperor and Common darter dragonflies in an idealised landscape

Biology of Dragonflies

Below are five of the commonest British dragonflies.  There are 30 species in the UK, and all are members of the Anisoptera family. Unlike the weaker flight of damselflies, dragonflies are large and strong fliers.  Their hind wings tend to be shorter and broader than theri fore wings, and are held at 90 degrees to the body (not folded along the abdomen as with damselflies).  They have broader bodies,  and are less likely to stay close to water; they may be seen flying and hunting for insect prey a long way from the nearest lake or pool.  Their eyes will meet, at least at one point and often seem to wrap round their heads like enormous glasses.  Their larvae lack the three external gills (lamellae) seen at the end of the abdomen of the Zygopteran damselflies.

Simplified illustration of a dragonfly nymph

Emperor dragonfly

The most instantly recognisable (and largest) British dragonfly is the Emperor, Anax imperator. It has bright green and azure blue markings, and flies high above the water, defending its territory.  As with the damselflies, all the illustrations are of males.

Emperor dragonfly

Four-spotted Chaser

The four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata is predominantly brown.  It has a dark wing spot on all four wings; and a yellow margins down the sides of the abdomen.  You can see irregular yellow-lined shaped on the early abdominal segments; the terminal ones are black.  The hindwings have dark patches at their base.

Four spotted chaser

Black tailed Skimmer

The Black tailed skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum has blue-green eys and a beautiful powdery blue abdomen which tapers neatly to a point.  It has orange semi-circles along the edge, and may be darker towars the tip.  The thorax is brown and the wings are clear, lacking the dark wing-bases seen on the similarly coloured Chaser species.

Black tailed Skimmer

Broad Bodied Chaser

Another blue dragonfly is the Broad bodied chaser, Libellula depressa. They have dark bases to their wings, but their most recongisable feature is their flattened abdomen which is wide and sports yellow edges.  Eyes and thorax are brown.  They’re always on the look out for new territories and will often be the first Odonata species to colonise a new pond.

Broad bodied Chaser

Common Darter

The last common British dragonfly I’m considering is the Common darter, Sympetrum striolatum. This is a red insect with a brown thorax and head.  Its legs and eyes are also brownish, but the legs may be striped with yellow.  The thorax has two panels of yellow, divided by a band of brown.  There may be little areas of yellow at the wing bases.  It can be seen into autumn as it basks to raise its body temperature.

Common Darter

These are a few of the most abundant of the British dragonflies, but are only 5 of the 30 or so species which are recorded in the UK annually. They’re hard to miss when patrolling or hunting over still water, and may be a long way from the nearest pond or lake.  A useful field guide is the Field Studies Council “Guide to dragonflies & damselflies of Britain” .

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Challenges of painting damselflies

One might think the real challenge with such a subject is the wings; but that’s not the case.  A damselfly wing is not a hard thing to render.  You just need a fine tip to your brush (I favour a winsor & newton series 7  size 00 brush).

Large red damsefly pair mating (detail)

The hardest part of illustrating a damselfly is getting the tiny differences on the abdomen and thorax right.  The best resource for this information that I’ve found (other than a living specimen) is British Dragonflies by Smallshire & Swash.  Coupled with resources available online through the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) you’re well on your way to being able to identify (and illustrate!) many of our damselflies.

Life cycle of the Large red damselfly

Biology of Damselflies

Below are five of the commonest British damselflies.  There are 20 species in the UK, and all are members of the Zygoptera family.  Zygopterans can be distinguished from the stronger flying dragonflies.  They have thinner bodies, and hold their wings along their abdomens (except for the willow damsels). Each of their four wings is the same size and shape.  They stay close to water.  Flight is weak and fluttery.  The larvae have three external gills (lamellae) at the tip of the abdomen, and can’t easily be mistaken for anything else.

Common British Damselflies

Large red damselfly nymph

Beautiful demoiselle

Easiest to identify is the Beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).  It’s instantly recognizable because of its dark and iridescent wings and body.  In all cases a male is illustrated.  (For more on painting iridescence, have a look at my blog).

Beautiful demoiselle

Large Red

Next is a very common damselfly, the Large red Pyrrhosoma nymphula (see above for its life-cycle).  This damsel varies a lot in colour, but can be distinguished by black legs and wing spots, and a black stripe on the side of its thorax.

Large Red Damselfly stamp, copyright Jersey post 2013

For more on creating a series of dragonflies and damselflies on stamps, check out my blog

Common blue

Another common damselfly is the Common blue, Enallgma cyathigerum. This insect differs from other blue and black damsels in having no black “spur” marking on its thorax edge; and having broad stripes on the thorax edge.  It’s medium size and will fly further from the water margins than other similar species.

Common blue

Azure Damselfly

A similar damselfly is the Azure damsel, common across the UK (although rarer in Scotland).  I rather like the written description from Britain’s Dragonflies by Smallshire and Swash, “Think of the male as a snooker player: he has a cue (the “spur” on the side of the thorax), wears a bow tie [on abdominal segment] S10 and carries a beer glass (S2)!” p.75

Azure damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly

The Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans) has an enormous amount of colour variation within its species.  Its abdomen is mainly black, and it has two-tone diamond wing spots.  Of all the damselflies, it spend the longest time mating (up to 6 hours) so if you see damsels in the distinctive “wheel” mating form (see the Large red damsel life cycle above) it may well be this species.

Blue-tailed damselfly

These are the most abundant of the British damselflies across the UK, but are only 5 of the 20 species regularly recorded here.  Look out for them across lakes and still water, even ditches and puddles.  For a handy guide, it’s worth investing in the Field Studies Council “Guide to dragonflies & damselflies of Britain” .

For an explanation of how I illustrated a new species of damselfly that’s just been discoverd, check out my blog

Next week: Dragonflies!

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Past stamp issues completed for Jersey Post

I’ve worked with Jersey Post before.  I completed a series of botanical illustrations of roses for them back in 2010 (copyright Jersey Post 2010).

They commissioned me again in 2011.  This time it was a series of illustrations for their 2011 Forests issue (copyright Jersey Post 2011).

Dragonfly and damselfly stamp issue

However, this new series, which came out yesterday, was definitely one of my favourite jobs to date.  Stamps, which require detail and colour, combined with entomological subject matter and a decent rate of pay?  Heaven.

After accepting the commission I was sworn to secrecy.   Stamps are a competitive world, and illustrators regularly sign confidentiality agreements.  This stops other countries’ postal departments from stealing one other’s ideas.

The brief came next.  I had a list of species to include, and each stamp value had one species assigned to it.   The accessories (first day covers and envelopes) were open to interpretation.  This meant I had a great deal of freedom in the compositions, and could choose whichever dragonflies from the list that I wanted to illustrate.

Dragonfly stamps: Gathering reference and advice

I was aided every step of the way by the erudite, accessible and endlessly patient Professor Mill of the British Dragonfly Society.

The first step was to source reference.  With dragonflies, this isn’t as easy as with some other insects (like butterflies or beetles).   The colours of  Odonata are chemical-based rather than physical.  So once a dragonfly dies, its colour fades within minutes. (Butterfly colour comes from thousands of tiny scales which remain the same shade for decades or centuries after death).   Museum specimens are great for dragonfly wing reference, but no good for colour.

I was helped by the best book on Dragonflies and Damselflies out there, Britain’s Dragonflies by Dave Smallshire & Andy Swash.  I consulted lots of photographs taken by extremely talented entomological photographers.  All very generously gave me permission to use their photos as reference.  Steve Routledge and Tim Caroen spring to mind.

Once I’d assembled my ref., I drew up the pencil roughs.  This is tricky as you need to make the animal bold but also leave room for the price, the queen’s head, and for the name of the insect in English and in latin.  It involves lots of layering of acetate sheets to ensure a word won’t overlap a wing, and that the queen’s nose isn’t touching a dragonfly leg.

Before applying any colour, I sent these off to Professor Mill.   He asked for the changes required to make the animals biologically accurate.  As a scientific illustrator, I always strive for accuracy, but it this case it was paramount.  The BDS were putting their name to the stamps.  Details like anal clasper shape, colour of the wing vein, position of the wing spot, and exact shape and colour on each abdominal segment were vital to illustrate correctly.

Damsel & Dragonfly stamps: Colour roughs

Next, the colour roughs.  These need to be worked up for submission to Jersey Post, but not be as fully worked as the finals.  The trick was to make them good enough to be “ok’d” by both Jersey Post and the BDS.   I could then use the same artwork and take it to the final stage.  Sometimes changes are too large, and you need to start afresh, but that’s part of the job.  The main challenge here were the instances where I’d got the colour of some part of the animal slightly wrong, and it needed tweaking.  If the colour needed to become muddier or darker this was fine, but where it had to be brighter or lighter it was a challenge.  (For more on this, check out my blog on fixing mistakes Natural History Illustration: Fixing errors).

Dragonfly and Damsels: Working up the final illustrations

Working into the finals is more a matter of intensifying colours and adding detail than anything else.  It takes time, but is the easiest part of the job.  As always, I use Winsor and Newton series 7 brushes and watercolour paints, and Doctor Martin inks for the vibrant colours of the dragonfly and damselfly bodies.

Below are the final artworks for the damsels and dragons stamp series.  I’ve supplied these without the queen’s head and text and price.  (There are copyright implications relating to reproducing the illustrations in the same format as the finished stamp.)  However, I include the Beautiful demoiselle to show how they look in their final layout.   The accessory artworks are allowed to be reproduced as is.  In all cases, copyright lies with Jersey Post.

It’s important to note here that it is almost unheard of for me to sell my copyright.  There are enormous issues currently surrounding companies demanding copyright unnecessarily.  Postage stamps are almost the only exception I make to this rule, and this is because stamps are, in effect, currency.  Thus a request for copyright in this case makes sense.

Dragonfly and Damsels: Supplementary artwork for the stamp issue

The supplementary artwork required is things like covers for the mint stamps, and first day cover illustrations to go on envelopes carrying the stamps.  Selvedge (the edge of the stamps) also needs to be illustrated.

I am really proud of this body of work, and very much look forward to working with Jersey Post (and any other stamp design company if they’re interested!) on further issues in the future.

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I’ve been told I can post the final of the Dragonfly piece on my blog, so long as anyone who knows the client makes certain her husband and kids have no inkling of its existence before Christmas.  For more on how I went about piecing together this illustration, please look at last week’s blog.

Here it is, and now it’s off to be framed at our superb local framers, Fitting Frames.

I’ve just been able to re-unite my dandelion painting with its owners after its trip to London for the Images 36 Exhibition, and am pleased it’ll finally be up on their wall (they purchased it in May…)

On Wednesday I’m teaching a workshop on illustrating grasses, and have at last sourced live flowering grasses as well as the dead variety:

The challenge is to make this collection of straw and hay into a fascinating and challenging drawing excersize.  I’ll let you know how it goes; I’m rather looking forward to it.

This week I’ll alter the Arable landscape for Natural England (and hopefully get going on the final) and draw up some roughs for Antenna Creative, who produce interpretation boards for North Wales Wildlife Trust.  I’ll also get the proof of my Christmas card from the printers.

Finally, the best news of the week is that the heater in my studio is working again!

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First was a day studying Lichen and fungi with Ray Woods, a mycological expert, at Gilfach.  Organised by Radnorshire Wildlife Trust; we got to search for fungus, learn about their biology and classification, and have lots of cups of tea.  The part on lichen was equally amazing as we learnt about fungi competing for symbiotic algal species needed to become a “lichen”, and got to key out species with the help of a dissecting microscope.

Today was the Fungal Rummage, at Wooton Devreaux farm organised by Dave Prescott of Hereford New Leaf.  Talks about the usefulness and wonder of fungi (for example this amazing insectivorous one) were preceded by a nature walk where we found lots of different species, and had a good go at keying some out. Tea and cake, and a good turnout made this a brilliant event that I was proud to be involved with.

Work wise, I’ve finished the proper rough of the dragonflies, and am now following up feedback before getting onto the painting stage.

I’m pleased with the composition; the dragonflies and nymphs forming a loose oval which should keep the eye moving around the whole illustration.

A new job’s come in, hen harriers chasing a red grouse in moorland.  I’m looking forward to getting going on that one.

I’ve also been sorting through my reference, a hideous and seemingly endless task which needs doing every few months.  Alphabetical files, glue, hole punches, and scissors sprawl across my desk.  But next time I need an image of cows grazing in a river, or a reed bunting; I’ll know exactly where to find them!

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I’ve spent some very happy hours collating research for this big private commission; getting old dead damselflies out of matchboxes, flicking through past artwork to see if there’s a picture of a newt I could re-use, finding red campion and violet ref in my sketchbooks , and ploughing through files of photo reference to get images of all the animals and plants I’ll be including.

Then I’ve drawn it all up into a very rough “thumbnail” sketch which I’ve emailed to my client for feedback.  I send through two versions and a written species list, one is labelled and one’s without labels. This one’s been annotated.

I’ll be interested to hear what’s said, this point is always a bit scary because there’s a chance you’ve got it completely wrong, and the client will ask you to start all over again.  However, it’s always better to find this out when the artwork is still at a very rough stage…

I’m hoping to get going on the ivy studies tomorrow; ivy flowers just coming into bloom and the leaves are all glossy green.  I’m getting excited at the very thought of painting them.

There’s also been lots of the bleaker side of what I do; self promotion and marketing campaigns.  I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say it takes a lot of time and I’d rather be wielding a paintbrush than tip-tapping away on the keyboard, but there you have it.  Life in the 21^st century, and welcome to it.

So although this week has been busy, I’m not certain I’ve achieved a great deal.  This is the problem with being an illustrator, one tends to measure one’s success rate with numbers of completed paintings, so it’s easy to discount all the hours spent researching, drawing up roughs, and marketing.  Let’s see if I can make real progress with that ivy by this time next week…

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