I drew these buggy creatures after getting a chance to sketch real bugs (that aren’t ants from my backyard), like scorpions, tarantulas, and cockroaches. I’m highly grossed out by bugs in the real world, but I have no problem with these drawn ones. Not that I dislike bugs, I just like keeping a respectable distance from them.
For each of these, I drew them in simple shapes first. I kept away from detail until I knew kind of where I wanted to go for each one. The moth was an exception, as I was certain about the curly anntena and drew those in pretty quickly. A lot of these don’t build off the bugs I drew before from life, but are still influenced by them, such as in the shape of the legs.
As I was drawing these, I thought a lot about their stories, why they exist as they are. The curly-antenna moth? Genetically engineered, as pets- in colors like seafoam green and lavender. They’re very docile and sweet in personality, and are often kept in cute little terrariums. The bug rolling a ball of dirt is the opposite. Without human intervention, it would begin to devour buildings and sidewalks. Created to eat and consume dirt to clean cities, specifically ones of the “science-fiction” kind.
The little leaf bug has two forms. I liked how this one turned out especially, with the way the leaf veins emphasize the turning of the form.
There’s one that I spent more time thinking about than drawing. An easy mistake! The beetle with the rose on its back is a completely artificial bug, that can reshape the flower on its back to be any object, through the power of its mind. It’s like a living 3D printer. Created to give scientists an insight into a bug’s mind, of course. But until I draw out that out, it’s just backstory.
I enjoyed making these fanciful versions of real bugs. It would be cool to try this with different animal kinds. I could see it being a bit more difficult, as bugs are pretty simple in their basic shapes compared to something like a cat or a polar bear. The structure of these bugs is pretty simple: a main shape for the body, and the legs or wings are just protruding forms. Spots, fur and patterns are pretty simple to add. I could have been more attentive to reference material, but I don’t think everything needs to be specifically true to life to be interesting.
Illustrations by Kristin Bandy 