#entemology

Steampowered Pollinator

Sticking gears on everything is debated in the steampunk community.  Some just love the gear in its own right, others say sticking gears on everything and calling it “steampunk” misses the nuance and aesthetic of the genre.  I’m in the middle - I use gears but not “orphan” gears and they must look like they actually have a purpose in the design.  They can imply movement.

I’m telling you this because I wanted to make this piece with no gears.  I wanted it to look like a miniature steam engine powering this little guy.  Starting with a brass shelf support pin I drilled numerous holes to attach the “engine”, exhaust, wings, head and legs.  Everything is screwed in.  

He needed a purpose - in situ - so I made him a stand, bracket with a copper and brass flower to “fly” to. It’s curled around the main support. He can be taken off the bracket but I really like seeing him “working”.  He is a combination of parts from jewellery supplies, watch parts, electrical supplies and miscellaneous hardware.

Thanks for looking!  I really appreciate all the support I get from my Tumblr community.  

Pink Tritium Bug

Yes, another tritium piece and a bug.  Kept this one a bit more conceptual - not so accurately insect.  She is very cute.  

I started with a pink tritium vial, sealed within a second glass vial.  The legs are lever action earrings - that can be moved, bolted on to a bracket.  The brass top is screwed into a cord cap.  The “face” is a solid brass six sided cabochon.  I screwed a bolt into the flat back and then bolted it on the cord cap on the end.  Finally I wrapped fine gold tone wire around the head/face join to form antennas. 

Please note: pink is one of the least bright tritium tubes.  My camera changed the true colour so I used digital manipulation to correct the colour values.  My graphics/web design skills are still useful.

She’s slightly over 1 ½ inches long, 1 inch wide and stands ¾ of an inch high - excluding her antennas. I was going to sell her as a pendant - and if someone wants to wear her I can attach to to some chain joined with clasps to her wings.  If you need more photos of that - feel free to contact me.  You would have to be very careful wearing her - the antenna are fragile.  Leg bolts might also loosen with movement and may need to be tightened.

The tritium is estimated to glow for 10 to 15 years without the need for a charge or batteries.

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I ordered some amazing brass stamps over Christmas and here is one put to use in the latest mechabug.  Watch parts feature heavily in this guy with layers of parts on his face, head and along his top “backbone”.  His “legs” are repurposed lever action earrings - cut and adapted for this use, with watch winder stems at the end.  Flat semicircle brass stamps form the main skeleton all threaded on a brass rod with sleeves and springs between them.  Threading the gears and minute pinions on the “top” backbone was very tricky - a lot of swearing at inanimate objects.  

He is 2 inches long, 1.5 inches wide and stands 1 inch high.  He’s designed to just sit on your desk or shelf, keep you company and impress guests. He has a hanging loop so it would look like he’s walking down your wall.

When I was researching anatomical bugs for this project I accidentally found myself looking at the Russian spy cockroach - very interesting. So here is the steampunk version.  Love to see him come to life…

Now in my shop (and included in the 25% discount sale this weekend), an A3 print of my illustration, Resting Place II. 

Companion piece to Resting Place, but featuring Death’s Head bugs (Eucorysses grandis), since I’ve drawn a heck of a lot of moths already.

sao-miguel-with-an-iphone:

Last set of São Miguel sketches: more plants, a final dinner at Maria’s, brief exploration of Ponta Delgada, and one single view of the north coast of the island before we headed to the airport.

1. Vaccinium cylindraceum (native Azorean blueberry), and an unidentified but probably native (and definitely adorable) species of bumblebee.
2. The remains of grilled anchovies on the table at Maria’s the last night we stayed with her.
3. A close-up view of my favorite exotic invasive- the tree-sized deadly nightshade! (Solanum mauritianum) It was what we spotted the Priolo on originally, actually.
4. A very strange and very decrepit old house in what I think was the U district of Ponta Delgada. It had such strange victorian-azorean hybrid architecture, and such great colors and weathering that I had to paint it.
5. A lovely view I painted about an hour before we got on a plane to leave. I could see whales spouting right in that bay as I painted it, because without a continental shelf the water was effectively open ocean as little as 30 yards offshore.

Notebook of Lucanus cervus. Will be selling these for 5 euros. The cover is original art

                                  _____________________________

I wish to let you know that I’m doing SKETCH REQUESTSfor every 5 dollar (or more) Patron on Patreon, every 3 months. :) It would mean each sketch would be a 15$ priced commission. PRETTY CHEAP.

If I reach the first goal the TUTORIALS WILL BE BACK, and those seemed to be very popular back in 2014 when I was doing them.

For now I restrict myself to art tips and drawing postings on Patreon with higher res. The requests are the main exclusive prize for the Patrons.

Thanks for your time guys! Cheers

https://www.patreon.com/psamophis

I wish to thank my Patrons for supporting my work. Thanks to you guys I’m continuing doing these XD

Work in Progress of Lucanus cervus

Moth or butterfly ? Any entomologist out there