The Bug Collector: Sketchbook Project

With 8 printouts to occupy kids of all ages!

One day I will have enough confidence in my writing, and I’ll write a scene about how some eccentric bug collector lost his most prized bugs and it’s your job to find them and return them to their rightful places.

Until then, here’s a list of bugs to draw!

If you do like this week’s prompt please share it with your friends, teachers you know, or anyone who might appreciate more creativity in their lives!

This week we’re drawing bugs.

Here’s a list:

• Phasmatodea ( Stick Bug )

• Scarabaeinae ( Dung Beetle)

• Lepidoptera ( “Scaly wings” a.k.a Butterfly)

• Lamyridae (Firefly)

• Tenders Sinesis (Praying Mantis)

• Agriope Aurantia (Garden Spider)

• Phylliidae (Leafbug)

I made printables, use them for yourself, your kids or even your class! I Made the printables as single sheets and a Zine Edition, for easy portability.

Single Sheet:

It might be fun for kids of all ages to try to remember or discover what bugs look like via their the scientific name. It could be just as fun to have them imagine a bug that belongs in the various ‘environments’. I’m hoping these sheets will get you and your kids curious, imaginating and most importantly… DRAWING!

And if you’re using a sketchbook, either print the prompts and paste them in there, or redraw them!

Yup, that’s a ball of poop, have fun with all the different ways a bug might be interacting with it!

The hand is there for scale!

I was fascinated to discover that the patterns on butterfly wings are actually made from individually coloured scales, just like pixels!

The hole is so that it has space to breathe. pro tip: you can’t actually draw light, instead you create the illusion of light by darkening everything around and leaving the white to represent light… try it!

Get extra creative with the webs!

Try a top view inside this glass frame, or maybe it’s outside looking it. PS: This bug is native to my home country Malaysia, and that makes me proud!

This bug has influenced Chinese Kungfu

Pocket Edition Zine:

Here’s a video on how to fold the zine . I can’t wait to see all your drawings, and kids drawings in the gallery!

Note: Feel free to interpret the prompts as loosely or as broadly as you like!

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PS: This Month Art Gym in on the 25th of June. Art gym is a monthly workshop I do (via zoom) together with

Katie Stack

, We cover a range of useful topics from drawing icons, to faces, poses in soon Environments!

IMPORTANT:

Art Gym

is moving to it’s own substack in JULY. If you have an active annual membership at the end of June, you will enjoy all the previous workshop recordings, plus a bonus 6 month subscription to the NEW Art Gym. ( In addition to All the things! )

Here’s the link to register for the Next session. (Available to all Paid subscribers)