Illustration – “V” is for…

digital painting, 17 Comments
, , , , , , , , ,

…Venus Flytrap.

The next illustrated letter in the Beautiful World Alphabet is the letter “V.”


“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

—Albert Einstein

My knowledge of the Venus Flytrap was pretty limited before illustrating this letter, mainly old “B” movies where they ate lost travelers or treasure robbers. Since working on this illustration, I’ve learned some very interesting facts! Here is my initial rough sketch.

What an amazing feat of engineering! The plant creates a nectar to lure insects and once a hungry visitor lands, it can distinguish different types of stimuli. Rain won’t trigger it, but common prey will. The hairs must be triggered multiple times within a 20-second span for the trap to close. The lobes can snap shut within just a tenth of a second, ensnaring its prey.

If the prey is too small and not worth the cost of digestion, then there is actually enough room for it to escape. If it’s too big, however, then it risks destroying the trap completely. When it has found just the right prey, the plant will slowly seal the trap and then release digestive enzymes to consume its body. The plant can afford to be so patient and particular because it can go for a long time without food. – from a-z animals.com

Animated Gif “Knock before entering.”

Our planet is such an amazing and wondrous home. There is many other fascinating facts about the Venus Flytrap such as how it won’t trap the pollinators, and how it knows the difference. Might be worth a “Google.” I hope this was a fun few moments. – Thank you!

  4. A wonderfully creative “V” in your Beautiful World Alphabet artworks, dear Liza. And, I’m glad that the Venus Flytrap IN your monitor didn’t eat the fly ON your monitor screen, lol. Have a great weekend, my friend! 🌻🎨

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ah! Ha ha ha, me too! Thank you Phil, I’m so glad you liked it, and I hope you have a great rest of the weekend as well! 🙏🌷☮️

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I completely agree! The more I read about them, the more I simply marvel at the ingenuity of their design 🙏. Lol, so funny to see that fly on the monitor and then not be able to find it again! Thanks Cathy!

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Your drawing is beautiful, Liza. I remember a teacher in my elementary school had a Venus Fly Trap on her desk and the whole class was enamored by it. A few were afraid it might bite them (probably those who saw the B horror films).

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Hi Manette, and thank you! I love that your teacher had this “ferocious” plant, and could share that it was really just a pretty marvelous design of nature. 🌷☮️❤️

      Liked by 1 person

Thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.