Featured here is a personal piece I created while pursuing my interest in scientific illustration. Spiders and bugs were favorites to draw, not only for their physical complexity, but also because I've always been fascinated by the little creatures.

I recreated a photograph of a vibrant spider entangling a bug in its webbing, in the process featuring its intricate beauty and hopefully inviting a viewer to feel less inclined to immediately label the creature as gross or disturbing.

I made precise marks with colored pencil and controlled the density of the pigment to allow the paper’s brown hue to blend with the color of the pencil. Areas of brown paper showing through and around the image helped create the illusion that the subject is emerging from the page, making the spider and its prey appear even more life-like.

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