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Examples of Winged Insects of the British Isles

Insect poster final

‘Examples of Winged Insects of the British Isles’, 2017.

Digital illustration using handmade papercuts.

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Day three and four, since I’ve worked to the point where the two cross over tonight. A curious collection of cephalopods including a Common Cuttlefish, a Curled Octopus, juvenille forms of each, a Common Octopus and a cuttle bone. I’m off to bed and tackling crabs and lobsters tomorrow (not literally!)

Day three of #inktober and it’s another cephalopod! Today I’ve drawn the Lesser Octopus, also known as the Curled Octopus (Eledone cirrhosa). Despite their name the Lesser Octopus is in fact more common in British shores then the Common Octopus. They tightly wind the end of their tentacles, hence the name ‘Curled Octopus’. They reach up to 50cm and feed on fish, molluscs, crabs and other crustaceans which it immobilises by injecting a toxin into the eye of its captured prey. I still think they’re cute though 😉 Drawn with a 0.05 fineliner with The adventurous addition of a 0.2 fineliner speed things up a bit.

Day two of #inktober and I’ve drawn a ridiculously complicated cuttlefish. This is a Common Cuttlefish or Sepia officinalis, commonly found off the coast of the UK. While I was drawing I learnt that cuttlefish have eight legs and two suckered tentacles that they use to catch prey. Cuttlefish are incredible, not only having the ability to change the colour of their skin but also the texture. I think I’ll have to simplify future drawings as this too such a long time. Though it was fascinating to look closely and learn more about these amazing creatures!

🍁🍂The seasons are changing so it’s time for a sale! 🍂🍁 20% off ALL prints and cards on my Etsy shop the whole entire month of October. Find the link to my shop in my profile 🌝

I’ve never been organised enough to do #inktober before, but since I’m drawing every day at the moment I thought I might give it a go. So there will be a temporary pause from papercutting, but I’m planning to put all these drawings together as a large paper sculpture eventually. So day one sees me drawing an egg bearing White-Clawed Crayfish again, the UK’s only native crayfish. It is currently endangered due to the crayfish plague and the fact that it is sensitive to pollution. They are very small, only growing to about 12cm, and are most commonly seen in spring and summer. Drawn with a technical pencil and 0.05 fineliner on Bristol board 🙂

5 layer papercut ‘Vampyrotheuthis infernalis’ all ready for scanning and making in to prints. The question of the evening is, which cephalopod next? 🤔Suggestions welcome!

Tidying up the studio has, as usual, just turned in to looking at my favourite books from my collection. Does anyone else collect books? I’d love to hear about your collections!

Vampyrotheuthis infernalis, which translates to the ‘Vampire squid from Hell’ apparently. Rather unfairly named really as they don’t suck blood, just feed on detritus from above. They also combine features from the octopus family and the squid family, so they may not even be a squid! They are only small, growing to a maximum of around 30cm, but have huge eyes in comparison to their size. While I’m sure this guy isn’t destined to be a huge seller, I like him and I know my four year old who is obsessed with the Midnight Zone will too! 🙂

I’m so excited to be featured on the @paperartistcollective feed this week, and would like to say a big thank you to them! It’s SUCH an honour to have my work shared alongside so many incredible paper artists and I throughly recommend going and following the account if you are passionate about paper art 🙂

There have been so many jellyfish off the North West coast lately, including Moon Jellyfish and Lion’s Mane Jellyfish! They are inspiring me to make a more accurate jellyfish papercut, but for now here’s my large jelly papercut from two years ago 🌊

It’s a bit quiet over here as I’m working on making a book at the moment, illustrating river life. The White-clawed Crayfish is the only native crayfish to the UK, and is endangered.

Following on from the last 'Deep Sea Stories', today looks at the amazing giant squid! - True to their name, the giant squid is a massive member of the cephalopod family. The largest giant squid recorded so far was almost 13 metres long. Their anatomy is similar to other squid with two large eyes, eight arms, and two extremely long tentacles. These feeding tentacles are covered with sharp-toothed suckers which they use to catch prey up to 10 meters away. Their huge eyes help them to see in the dark of the deep sea and aid them in hunting food. - We know very little about these giants of the sea as they live deep in the ocean and are very rarely filmed, seen or washed up on the shore. They are thought to live in the ocean worldwide, but are most often washed up on beaches of the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. They rarely do so in the polar regions, suggesting they prefer warmer waters. - When giant squid specimens are found marine biologists can look at a small calcareous structure called a statolith in the squids brain which helps it to orientate itself. These form 'growth rings' like a tree helping to age the squid, and the oldest giant squid found was estimated to be only five years old. - Giant squid are thought to eat shrimp, other squid, and deep sea fish. As mentioned in the last deep sea story, sucker marks have been found on the skin of sperm whales, suggesting they may be on the whale's menu and have to battle to escape. However although remains of giant squid have been found in the stomach of sperm whales, sperm whale has never been found in the stomach of a squid, so perhaps they do not often win or eat large whales. - There are many sea legends that are thought to have originated from giant squid, such as the Kraken - a huge monster that lives in the ocean near Greenland and sinks ships. - However, amazingly they are not the largest squid, as the colossal squid is thought to reach possibly over 14 metres long!

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