This week I started my final painting depicting a Mantis shrimp inside of a burrow. On their body are flaps that reflect circularly polarized light which only they can see. This is how they communicate with one another and let each other know if they are occupying a territory. Mantis shrimp spend most of their time in burrows and are extremely territorial. They are able to discern if a burrow is occupied by a fellow stomatopod by the bright flashes of light that come from the flaps.
The painting I have started is an interpretation of how I think a Mantis shrimp would see into an occupied burrow. Most of the surrounding is dark except for the areas on its body where the light is reflected.
I have chosen to work with acrylic gouache paint because I've never used it before and realized that it has a great vibrancy that isn't plastic looking like regular acrylic paint.
Below is a view of my painting in progress on (one of) my desks.
