This mixed media butterfly was created from a picture that showed the belly of a Black Northern Water Snake. I traced the shape of the upper and lower wings then the body . The head, antennae and eye were all made by using the body and manipulating it to get the shape I wanted.

The wings and body were placed in the glowing edges filter to give them a little texture. I only used a slight touch of the filter. I then used the Dudge and Burn Filter on areas I wanted to brighten and reveal what the dark colors hid.
Not wanting to make the wings appear rough I added 15% transparency for a smoother translucent look.

Since the snakes body has rings around the belly I cut a lengthwise piece to create the sections you see on a butterflies body. Later on I used the cement filter to give the body a fluffy appearance. ( I know that sounds funny, but it works)

The eyes were created by scrunching the body down to eye size and the darkening them in glowing edges. Glowing edges also added a gold hue to the black eyes. I used the transparency filter and took 15% of the the opague off.

The head was also made from the body and scrunched down to the size I needed, but I didn't change the color so it would match the body.

For the antennae ,I just made the body part narrower and scrunched it down to the right length. Later on I decided to add a blue and white transparency that would match the colors in the wings.

The background color was chosen to highlight the colors in the butterfly. I de-saturated the color to 76% and added translucency there too.

Every thing I did was done experimenting with different effects along the way. I NEVER know how I will create something as far as effects are concerned. I just keep working till I get something I like. It's all trial and error......Forgot to mention I used the kaleidoscope filter too.

Hope you enjoy what I've done

Helvi :o)