Elementor #20348

(1010) Dikira – Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars

About this Artwork
PRICE: 80 EUR

For this piece I wanted the caterpillars to be at the centre of focus, therefore I made the parsley, a particular favourite of this caterpillar, quite minimal with o Lt a few leaves on. I also wanted the background to have a lot of depth but without taking focus away from the caterpillars. I chose to use different shared and types of gold paint to have a mutted effect, but still be striking. No photos will make this painting justice – it changes with every small change in angle you look at it from because of the iridecent golds, but at the heart of it you always see the caterpillars. The black paint on the caterpillars is very matte, almost looks like velvet, which is looks stunning next to the gold shades. I wanted the caterpillars to be in quite dynamic poses, they can be real contortionists and I wanted to capture some of that in this piece.

About Dikira

I explore nature and plants through watercolour and ink, and add contrasting shapes and colours to emphasize the subject and really make it stand out. I use gold ink often in my works to embellish or highlight the artworks, and hope to help audiences see my subjects in a new light. I love using water mediums because they have a ’mind’ of their own, and by the end of creating a piece I end up with something unexpected – the way the water and pigments interact and react to eachother make every piece I creat really unique. I also use negative space to let the shapes of the subjects speak for themselves, and to show that you don’t need a lot of detail to show the movement, life and essence of a subject, the brain will fill that in. I don’t try to give any strong messages through my art, I hope that audiences will find their own meanings and feelings in my paintings.

Link to Dikira’s Art Aviso profile HERE

Dikira was provided with the following page from Newnes’ Pictorial Knowledge Encyclopedia:

Volume 1
The story of animal life – Creatures of the land, air and sea.
Caterpillars of a beautiful Butterfly