Butterfly - Color Pencil

I was looking for something to draw to give as Christmas gifts. My wife had found a dead monarch butterfly. I did not have an orange or red pencil that I liked, but gave me the inspiration to draw a butterfly. I had some blue pencils, A little search on the internet and I fond what I was looking for.

"23 Rare and Stunning Butterfly Species"

http://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=21010

There are some pretty butterflies on that page. You should check it out.

My renditions of 2 butterflies I have never seen in person.

Sapho Longwing

Sapo Longwing

Sapo Longwing

Blue Morpho

Blue Morpho

Blue Morpho

Sapo Longwing and Blue Morpho

They were a lot of fun to draw. I gave them to different people, so probably the only time they will hang together.
While drawing them, I did some internet searching. some interesting things about them on the internet. I can not verify anything I read, so I will just let you search them if you are interested.
Im not a specialist or know a lot about butterflies, other than I like looking at them. We try to plant plants that butterflies like....

This is the first time Ive drawn butterflies. I might draw some more. They are not hard to draw.

Leave a comment, I would like to hear from you. Post some pictures or link to your drawings of butterflies.

Watercolor butterflies

So I'm new to watercoloring, and just using what I have for now. Kids paints, brushes, and white drawing paper. That is not an excuse, I just want to share the journey. I had fun.

This paper warps easy with just a little water. Taping the paper down helped a little, but the center warped some.

I watched a few videos on watercoloring butterflies. I sketched them out and went for it. I learned a lot, and learned I have a lot more to learn. I look forward to more watercolor painting.

I'm so used to making sharp lines when I draw, I need to think about blending when imagining the picture, and figure out how to keep lines sharp in watercoloring.

Not exactly what I was going for, but I think they turned out ok. They bleed when I added the background blue. Ive seen videos both where they do the background first and after. I think next time I will try the background first.

Comments are Welcome, sugestions, helpful hints, or Sarcastic Criticism.