Hello!
For the final painting I looked at multiple images of Mantis shrimp in their burrows and the composition reflects what they typically look like. The colors are based off of views taken with infrared cameras. I mentioned this last week but it is still relevant to the final painting; the most important feature on the body is the flaps that are colored red. To the human eye these flaps are just as colorful as the rest of the body but they have a reflective surface which only other Mantis shrimp can see and use it to communicate with one another.
This is the finished product! I used gouache, acrylic paint, and charcoal in order to get different reflective applications, causing the surfaces to have different ways of absorbing and reflecting light. The painting itself is actually only 9 x 12 inches because I travel quite a bit and need to have something compact to carry with me. Although, I enjoy that it looks quite large out of context.
I hope you all have enjoyed this process as much as I did!