Friendly Dragonflies

This is the time of year when two of my favorite dragonflies are out in force – the Paddle-tailed Darner (Happy-face Dragonfly), and the Autumn Meadowhawk.  In the following picture I whispered a Happy-face Dragonfly onto my finger, and in the meantime a few Autumn Meadowhawks decided to join me and land on my leg.  Such friendly dragonflies!

It's wonderful to see these dragonflies together in the same picture – especially when the Happy-face Dragonfly likes to prey on the Autumn Meadowhawks.  It's doubtful the darner sees the perched Autumn Meadowhawks as potential prey items, since it likes to hunt flying prey on the wing, but it's interesting to have the lion lay down with the lambs in any case.

Latest Version of the Vitruvian Dragonfly

Here's the latest version of da Vinci's classic illustration:

I just love this dragonfly, the Paddle-tailed Darner, aka the Happy-face Dragonfly.  Such beautiulf colors and patterns.

A New Vitruvian Dragonfly

In the past, I put together a stick figure version of the Vitruvian Man – only in my case it was done as a dragonfly.

It's based on the Happy-face Dragonfly, also known as the Paddle-tailed Darner, and is taken from a photo, ensuring that the proportions are correct.

I recently commissioned a wonderful artist, Sabine Deviche, to do a professional version of the Vitruvian Dragonfly.  Here's the result, which is just beautiful:

I love the details in the wings, and everything else about the drawing as well.  It has a very classic feel to it.