‘Dragonfly’
A5 Watercolour, Pitt Pen and Max Factor Max Effect Nailpolish on Paper
Copyright 2013 by Shiloh Moore
Last time I was near a creek I saw two gorgeous buzzing dragonflies. I was captured by them. Their iridescent glow was stimulating to the eye. I tried to take a photo but couldn’t get close enough and it just couldn’t capture their essence.
Then a friend, Jayne Eldred, posted one of her photos of a dragonfly on her facebook page ‘Jayne Eldred Photography’ in the album ‘Pokolbin, Hunter Valley March 2013.’
Dragonfly by Jayne Eldred Photography
Used with Permission
This photo stunned me. The beauty of the delicate dragonfly, was captured incredibly. I think it’s my all-time favourite photo of a dragonfly!
I have a Max Factor Max Effect nail polish in blue that shines green on different angles. I had an idea to draw the dragonfly and colour the body with this nailpolish to get the iridescent effect in different lighting. It’s not captured here in the scan, but framed in real life, you can see it shines at different angles.
I drew the dragonfly with pitt pen, coloured the body with nailpolish, then did the background colours with watercolour and detail on the wings of the body with more watercolour.
‘Dragonfly’
copyright 2013 by Shiloh Moore
I am using this design to make ‘thank you’ and ‘sympathy’ cards like below:
‘Dragonfly – With Gratitude’
copyright 2013 by Shiloh Moore
Gorgeous….I can just imagine how it would glisten from different angles 🙂
Thanks Harmony! 🙂
Beautiful, Shi x
It's beautiful Shi.
I have a question about Pit pens. Do they dry permanent? It looks like it if I've understood what you've written and you put the watercolour on after. If they do I may have to invest in one. I've been unable to crochet so I've been drawing cards this week, but my markers will run if they get wet so aren't the best to be sending in the post in this weather.
Oh Shi! This is fucking beautiful! I love dragon flys (so much so I'm considering the motif as a new tattoo. And this image is perfect for one! Shame it's copy written! haha.Love. And Thank-you. (Adrian x)
Thank you so much Adrian! So glad this has connected with you so. I find them captivating, I am transfixed by them. Much love right back atcha x
Thanks so much Sophie xxxxx
Thanks Julia! Yes, Pitt pens are awesome like that. They do dry permanent, so you can do the drawing first, then do a wash of watercolour over it, then refine it/touch it up a bit again if necessary afterward, as some colours will cover it just a little. They come in different sizes, small, fine, medium and bold. Bold is almost like a small brush but hard to control I find, but good for large areas. Small, fine and medium aren't hugely different to each other. But for different pieces sometimes one works better than the other. Treat yourself to one – you'll never look back! 🙂