Greg Shchepanek

Documenting Monarchs and their love of Milkweed So pleasantly surprised to discover a great number of Monarch Butterflies ( Danaus plexippus ) in the Milkweed patch at the Kaz Station, Quebec, Canada this year. Usually lucky to find half a dozen but this year they were all over the Milkweed patch feeding & frolicking making it simply on of the best showings for the Monarchs recently. They are one of the most amazing butterflies of North America from their great migrations to how large a beautiful they are, it is the best to hangout with these guys. As for the caterpillars it was a little disappointing to find only one along the roadside of Alleyn-et-Cawood.

 A Little Green Bee While on a trip to the Dominion Arboretum Ornamental Gardens had the pleasure of observing these little guys hard at work collecting pollen as seen in the photos it is caked onto their bottoms & legs. It was interesting to see that most of the pollinators were interested in the large Purple Coneflowers ( Echinacea purpurea ) even the Monarchs ' were loving them the most. Green Sweat Bees ( Agapostemon texanus ) are so very colourful I often call the Metallic Green Bees but they are a small Sweat Bee . 

 Hump Day Illustrations back to Flowers from the Arboretum In the Finding Flora Series venturing into  Vector/Raster image play with Adobe Illustrator , Animate & Photoshop , used in unison to get my desired effects. Let me know what you think? This is all new work styles & I would love to get your input & get to know what you like & don't like. Happy Hump Day & I wish to you that you are enjoying your summer ... the Fall is on its way.

 Day 1 : Flora & Wetland Foliage Snakemouth/Rose Pogonia Orchid ( Pogonia ophioglossoides ) finding wonders of nature at our wetlands. So I spent most of my Saturday illustrating a variety of flora having the best time at it. Just getting myself use to the old faithful applications that I have not been visiting enough now a days. Adobe Illustrator, Animate & Photoshop , each of which has its own unique set of tools to get the job done. Also tried some fauna illustrations but was not as happy with them but I do believe the flowers were a success ... have a look & comment please on what you think of my illustration styles ... Love Your Wetlands ! The one that got me started the other day & singing away ... Hispid Buttercup ( Ranunculus hispidus ) Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ramsar site no. 755. Hope you know the song, but anyways that doesn't matter. Haven't done any computer illustrations in awhile so I hope you are liking what ...