butterflies of California

Wings of California

22×30 pastel Wings Series All the butterfly wings in this piece are from butterflies of California.  Most of these species are rather small and inconspicuous.  It takes a closer look to …

Butterflies of North America butterflly art by Lucy Arnold

Wings of North America

22×30 pastel Wings Series All the wings in this painting are from butterflies of North America. I try not to repeat the same butterflies in paintings very often, so it helps …

Wings of Utopia

22×30 oil pastel Wings Series I do love painting butterflies, and they have appeared in my art all my life. I wanted to create a few large paintings that featured a …

tropical butterflies

Tropical Wings

22×30 pastel Wings Series This Wings Series painting features tropical butterflies. Given that there are so many fabulous butterflies in the world, I had to have some way of limiting my …

Rainbow Butterflies by Lucy Arnold

Rainbow Butterflies

30×22 watercolor Butterflies come in every color, so I chose monochromatic ones (just one color plus black and white) to make up the rainbow. The border is made of strips …

Resplendent Forester Butterfly, Bebearia sp.

Resplendent Forester Butterfly

13×19 watercolor 19×25 framed Solo Butterfly Series This wonderfully colorful butterfly was discovered in a rainforest of Ghana in 2012. It is the Resplendent Forester butterfly, Bebearia sp. There are several Forester …

Claudina Butterfly

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series The striking Claudina Butterfly, Agrias claudina, is found high in the canopies of South American tropical forests.  The yellow tufts on the males’ hindwings emit pheromones to …

Bella Moth

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series This lovely, delicate winged insect is a moth, not a butterfly. It’s scientific name is Utetheisa ornatrix, but is commonly known as the Bella Moth or …

Red, White, Black by Lucy Arnold

Red, White, Black

30×22 watercolor This watercolor of butterflies is a study in monochramatic design. That is, the color scheme is just one hue (red) plus black and white. I did do some …

Winged Metamorphosis surreal art by Lucy Arnold

Winged Metamorphosis

9×12 watercolor In Winged Metamorphosis, the basic butterfly shape is made up of numerous representatives of the elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. Have fun picking them all out! …

Peacock Butterfly Inachis io by Lucy Arnold

Peacock Butterfly

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series The lovely European Peacock Butterfly, Aglais io, also known as Inachis io, is from the Nymphalidae family. It is found in parts of Asia and east …

Blue Clipper butterfly, Parthenos sylvia

Blue Clipper

9×13 watercolor 13×17 framed Solo Butterfly Series The Blue Clipper Butterfly, Parthenos sylvia, was challenging to paint – especially in my favorite medium, watercolor. But I found the blue version of …

Regal Moth Citheronia-regalis

Regal Moth

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series The Regal Moth, or Royal Walnut Moth, Citheronia regalis, is found in North America. It is the largest moth (by mass) north of Mexico, growing up …

Death's Head Moth Acherontia-atropos by Lucy Arnold

Death’s Head Hawkmoth

9×13 watercolor 13×17 framed Solo Butterfly Series The Death’s Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, sports a skull-like design on its body.  This fact, of course, has lent it a certain macabre …

Funerary Dagger Moth Acronicta-funeralis by Lucy Arnold

Funerary Daggermoth

9×13 watercolor 13×17 framed Solo Butterfly Series The Funerary Daggermoth (Acronicta funeralis) seems appropriately named for its interesting markings. Rather macabre, though, right? The caterpillar of this moth is know as …

Whitelined Sphinx Moth Utetheisa ornatrix

White-lined Sphinx Moth

9×13 watercolor 13×17 framed Solo Butterfly Series Hyles lineata, or White-lined Sphinx Moth, is also known as the Hummingbird Moth. The resemblance is uncanny when this large moth hovers over …

ruddy daggerwing butterflly

Ruddy Daggerwing

9×13 watercolor 13×17 framed Solo Butterfly Series The Ruddy Daggerwing butterfly (Marpesia petreus) is of theNymphlid family. Its range extends from Brazil north through Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and …

Gaudy Commodore butterfly Precis octavia

Gaudy Commodore Butterfly

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series The Gaudy Commodore Butterfly, Precis octavia, is an African butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.  The upper wings are truly impressive with intense blue and orange, which are …

Milkweed Tussock Moth by Lucy Arnold

Milkweed Tiger Moth

9×13 watercolor Solo Butterfly Series The Milkweed Tiger Moth, Euchaetes egle, is a North American species. It is a very drab sort of moth – if one only looks at …

Harlequin Beetle by Lucy Arnold

Harlequin Beetle

9×13 watercolor The aptly named Harlequin Beetle, Acrocinus longimanus, is a longhorned beetle native to the Americas. This fabulously patterned beetle is quite large, growing to about 3″ in body …