Catching up with you

Hi everyone,  I found  I love drawing with a gel pen in my sketchbook. I haven't  put any color on it but it was fun. Sadie is doing  fine. She is our Labrador retriever and I had a true night of terror when she got a leather chewy  2 in square caught in her throat.  I stuck my finger way down her throat and pulled it out ...was afraid  more was stuck but didn't  find more and watched her the rest of the night.  She curled in my lap all 82 lbs and stayed there. Oh boy you know how much I love her, I truly was afraid. I have been working  on a commission and I had to paint  an owl, I enjoyed painting  her. John and I have been painting  the walls in the den today. Glad that is over. I hope you all are doing great we did get 10 inches of rain before the hurricane but very little storm. So very  sorry for the Carolinas.  Love to EACH of you,Diana ps this SAT. I teach at Norfolk Botanical Garden.  Luna Moth and Ferns.

How to draw and paint Monarch butterflies

Hi, here is my instructions for drawing a Monarch Butterfly. I hope this helps you draw your own Monarch.  First I paint the orange on the Butterfly , on the bottom wing i add Cadmium Yellow close to the body. Use a small brush to paint the black. I go around the white dots, I am more a purist and try not to use white. After I paint the complete butterfly  I then add iridescent watercolor to only the orange.  It takes awhile but really is worth the effort.

Here is my latest hummingbird. I grew the sunflower,  yeah, I love them. And they were beautiful all gone now though.

And I am still raising Monarchs and BlackSwallowtails.   Hard finding  food for them but now 10 chryslises of Monarch and 3 cats of the Swallow tails. Sadie,our white Labrador  is asleep at my feet. We had a long walk in the woods after supper.  Love to you all, Diana