spider Archives - Laughing Mantis Studio

Jan 25

Salty, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2021

“Salty”, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2021

Jumping spiders are my favorite spiders. They’re cute, they’re floofy, they’re incredibly observant, and their athletic abilities are astounding. They also dance to woo the ladies like I never could.

The name comes from their family name “Salticidae.”

All pieces cut on scrollsaw, in this case exclusively using my scrap wood collection. Species: maple (regular and curly), walnut, mesquite, ipe, katalox, ebony, holly, cherry, & rubber tree (reclaimed from a cheap old jewelry box).

The main image upon which this is roughly based is “Come Closer, Jumping Spider” by Diaz Gio (@godzaid @giochimitsu), who has some amazing photography and an art account).

Mar 11

“Longing,” Daniel D. Brown, 2014, Pastel Pencil and Pan Pastel on Pastelmat

This is my most recent pastel work – the largest I’ve done yet (14″ x 11″) thanks to the new Pastelmat I just received.

This is a Pseudeuophrys lanigera jumping spider. They are quite tiny. Are his eyes bigger than his stomach? Does he dream of flying or metamorphosing?

This is based on a photo by the insanely talented photographer Nikola Rahmé (though the butterfly is based on my own photo). He kindly gave his permission for me to use his photos as references. If you like macro photography, go see his amazing portfolio on Flickr. He has produced a ton of gorgeous work.