Laura Mallaghan Illustration

 The sun has finally come out at the perfect time, for the bank holiday weekend! I have been wondering when will the sun come as the whole month of May has been unusually wet and chilly, then a drastically change this weekend, sun out and temperature rise. Wore from a jumper with thick bottom clothing to a flowy dress! Three weekends ago, on a rainy day, I was flicking through the Observer's Book of Butterflies, a yellow butterfly caught my eye, a Berger's Clouded Yellow Butterfly. The yellow wings made me think about warmth and the sun, yellow as bright as the sunshine!   I then got inspired to paint this yellow butterfly. Here's the process; And the Instagram reel of process in fast speed; View this post on Instagram A post shared by Laura Mallaghan Illustration (@lauramillustration) Now I'm going to sunbathe in the garden, absorbing the warmth and Vitamin D from the sun! 🌞 Have a lovely Bank Holiday today!

It's Earth Day today! Be kind to pollinators, such as bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths, they have their job for the earth as they keep the lands greener, as well as grow many wildflowers by carrying and spreading the pollens. When I been thinking of what to paint to associate Earth Day, then remembered a photo of the large white butterfly ( it was a male, showed from his wing), sat on the pink clubbed begonia; photo shows from above. So I was inspired by this to paint, especially the bold pink petal, working on A5 and including the bumblebee. So I'm off out to the countryside, frolicking through the field full of wildflowers and watching the bees and butterflies in the air. Have a lovely day!

Hello you all. Let's start with a little bit of education if you're wondering what is Rhopalocera is?  Rhopalocera is a scientific name of the butterfly, a division of Lepidoptera consisting of the butterfly.  This scientific name Lepidoptera is an order that includes butterflies and moths, also it's a Greek name with lepis means a scale and pteron means a wing, basically an insect with scales on the wings. Additionally, the scientific name for moths is Heterocera. Furthermore, Papilionoidea is the superfamily of the butterfly, hence the genus Papilio is Latin for butterfly, that's another name that doesn't include moths. I like studying about butterflies with another name, the different varieties, watching them on flowers and mostly I'm fascinated by the wings. Anyway, back to art. This painting has four butterflies, all have colourful wings. The reason I titled this illustration 'The Four Rhopalocera of Colour' is that what does all these ...