This is watercolor using the negative painting technique where you paint around your subject using multiple layers which creates depth. This has greater than 8 layers of watercolor washed around the tree shapes
Butterfly # ?? : The Swallowtail
this was hard! Firstly trying to illustrate a swallowtail without decapitating a poor swallow... then trying to fit these two together.
More paint splatter effect for a bit of zing
butterfly #4: The Clouded Yellow.
The hardest part here is the background! It would be too easy just to paint a cloud...I have about 5-6 different backgrounds, but only uploading one here is my fav of the bunch
An intuitive mix of fluid watercolor gradients and intricate fineliner patterns, wrapped up in a golden border. A little bit biological, a little bit whimsical.
A bit on the rough side right now, since I'm just getting started (again) on watercolours. I've never painted this loosely before so this is a big step for me. Maybe I'll try a selfie again in a few months to see how I've progressed.