Lilypads as seen by a Nymph
Lilypads as seen by a Nymph
Details
Year: 2026
Medium: Watercolor on panel
Size: 18 × 24 in
Status: Framed
Price: $1,800.00 USD*
Note
The nymph spends years underwater with a visual system radically reduced from the adult dragonfly it will become. Its compound eyes express primarily a single green-sensitive opsin (roughly 530nm), with a possible secondary blue channel (roughly 420nm). It sees the world in a narrow green-teal band, using polarization sensitivity to cut through murky water and detect prey by contrast rather than color. This painting shows transmitted light through a lily pad, looking up from below. The teal-green field of the leaf maps closely to the primary receptor, and the lavender glow of the surrounding water corresponds to the secondary blue channel. The radial vein structure, rendered with sharper contrast than the softer leaf tissue, suggests the kind of high-contrast edge information that polarization sensitivity would enhance underwater. The warm peach passages in the leaf are outside the nymph's spectral range and are used here to convey the intensity of transmitted light as brightness rather than hue. In life, those areas would register as vivid green-white.
Other Paintings in the Series
Lilypads as seen by a Dragonfly
My Promise
10% of proceeds from every purchase are donated to the World Wildlife Fund to support the protection of endangered species. Thank you for supporting my work and the ecosystems that inspire it.
*If you love this work but the price is out of reach, please feel free to contact me.