Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Insect post No. 1

I was taught how to draw people for the most part at school. Animals (specifically mammals) were secondary. But attempting to even do gestures of insects is difficult. They are alien to mammalian form. At least six legs for most, segmented bodies, wings, bulging eyes, crowbar-shaped feet, pincers, sleek exoskeletons, etc. They have amazing camouflage and defense mechanisms. They live practically everywhere, and yet we only take notice of them when they're in our house, eating our food, or sucking our blood.

So suffice to say I difficulty pulling off any forms. I didn't know where to start. You'd think it'd be easy. They're divided into three parts -- head, abdomen, thorax. But I don't just want to put shapes together. I want to understand how these insects move and fly. The top left sketch was me trying to see what a leafhopper bug would look like if you gave it more human qualities. The top right is a wasp that has some sort of needle or tube it sticks through wood to lay eggs. And bottom left is the face of a cicada (which are the ugliest things on earth).