So, while at Anthrocon, pondering things to draw, before I got hit with a number of requests (and one commission :) ), I decided to draw something for Nyomi, for a number of reasons.

For one, she did a wonderful job with the standies and all her other projects at the Con.
For two, she is the fiance of a dear old friend, named Shiro.
For three, I love her extremely cute artwork.

Another reason is, I try to do at least one picture for every person in the community who has had a notable impact in my life, one way or another. Not only is it a decent way to pay the kindness forward, but it's a great excuse to get drawing material ideas :D

So yar, This is my take on Nyomi's Moth Monarch, an adorable anthro luna moth. I like how *most* of it turned out, but there was one part that really got my goat: The thorax.
Luna Moths are very large, adorably fluffy things, with fairly large thoraxes, which is basically a tail full of their vital organs. So it is both an important, and prominent, part of their anatomy. As such, I didn't feel like I could omit it (Even though Nyomi omits them on her anthro moths: I guess for her, the vitals go in a more human region; to each their own ;) ).

However, those swallowtail-style lower wings will interfere with a thorax that isn't perfectly parallel with them. In this picture, I have her essentially posing in a way that is cute, but not what she would normally be doing if she were moving around, especially if she was planning on flight. I tried to make it clear that she actually has the swallowtail portion of her lower right wing draped back across her thorax, with some bend occurring as the wing is pulled a bit over said thorax.

Normally, I imagine she would have her lower wings spread slightly in order to keep them clear of her thorax, and when in flight, would keep the thorax flush with her legs, in order to keep it parallel with the wings, and avoid flight problems.

That, and I think her wings would be a touch larger, but I didn't have the page space for that;) so we are going with slightly smaller, just-as-cute wings.


To make up for the figurative pain in the butt, I really had alot of fun with her side panel (Ppbpbpbppppttt!)

I love it when I am able to mix unexpected aspects of human and animal anatomy, in this case, her tongue, which is a variation on a moth's proboscis. I imagine it would be quite shocking to see her do that the first time, which is probably why she would usually keep her nose politely buried in a flower while lurming out the nectar.

Ah, speaking of her nose... you might notice she has a bit of a cat or rabbit-like "split lip" despite having no true muzzle or nose. This is because, of the research I did on moth heads, they have a bit of a vertical split to make it easier to roll/unroll the proboscis. The result, when mixing it with some human anatomy, was this surprisingly cute design.

Other than that, it has some of my basic hallmarks, including a love of lithe, graceful features and anatomy. I don't actually know how many toes a moth foot has, but everything I've seen tends to indicate a small, pincer like foot... so two toes it was.

I kept her hands more human, because reasons... well, too add to the human and feminine factor: Besides, Nyomi's Monarch has human hands, so why not?


** I have one little disclaimer for those waiting on commissions: I have a small number of requests that were made during the convention, and wanted to be playful, social, and polite, as well as get more ideas for drawing, so I took them. That said, until I get every currently established commission complete, this is going to be the extent of the request quality: No inks, No colors. I hope this is acceptable. No other requests other than those that were given to me at the con will be taken until my current commission slots are complete. **