original oil painting butterfly painted lady vanessa cardui on board 12" x 12"

Painted lady Vanessa Cardui on gesso panel board measuring 12" x 12" 
Handmade oak wood frame made by the framers on Portobello road, London.

Painted using the finest quality art materials, for more information on myself please visit my website or social media. 


When I started painting this piece, I instantly wanted to know more about this wonderful butterfly. I remember being a child and seeing them gracefully flutter along. If you would like to know more information, I've written a little piece below about them.

They begin their life as a tiny blue/green egg. This then turns into larvae, which is grey in colour, around 3 to 5 days after the egg is laid. Over the next 2 to 3 weeks, the larva will grow to around 1.5" long. During this time, they shed their exoskeleton skin 5 times, each time expanding and hardening. During the final shred, a pale brown pupa is formed, in which a mature butterfly develops.

It's quite amazing how they develop from a pin size egg to a medium size butterfly, growing to around two inches in size.

Their characteristics are definitely distinctive. They are an infinite array of patterns and colours, the wings mainly display the colours of burnt orange and black. The lower wings show small black dots, with white dots on the top black section. Other colours include brown, yellow, blue and pink.

Apparently, the painted lady butterfly gets its name from the splashes of colours on its wings. I do think the white areas contrast beautifully, making the butterfly striking.

Interestingly, this butterfly is a long-distance migrant. Every year, colonies migrate northwards from the desert outskirts of North Africa, Central Asia & the Middle East. They then re-colonise in Mainland Europe, Ireland and Great Britain.

It's amazing to think how such a graceful and delicate insect can migrate nearly 2,500 miles from Europe, overcome obstacles such as the Sahara Desert, North Africa's mountains, and the Mediterranean Sea. unlike the monarch butterflies, chemical signatures in the painted lady wings reveal that they can make the trip in a single generation.

I've started to become drawn towards butterflies, If you've been following my art over the last couple of years, you will know in July last year I started to paint horses in oil paint and had such a desire to include butterflies.

I have since become obsessed with them and during this year I want to focus on painting them. Like the horse, their grace, beauty and freedom are what draws me in.

I hope you like this piece. If you would like a certain butterfly please contact me as I am open to commissions.