I recently partnered with Buzz Hoot Roar, a team of scientists that run a “graphics-driven blog that shares and explains a scientific concept in 300 words or less.” They search for and write about interesting scientific subjects and then partner with artists, designers, and illustrators to illustrate the concepts! The post I was assigned was about the evolutionary mating rituals of jumping spiders.

The post went live last week, and you can see it on the Buzz Hoot Roar website here! I’ve included the illustrations I made here, but you should check out the original post too so you can see the context and learn about jumping spiders!

And here are a few process shots:

The first sketch above is more or less what the actual jumping spider looks like, and the second sketch is my pass at turning something creepy and ugly into something cute that wouldn’t make people cringe!

Spiders everywhere! One reason I love assignments (in addition to personal projects) is that you end up drawing subjects you probably never would have chosen otherwise.

I also really loved the hairiness of the jumping spiders and had fun experimenting with replicating the hairy texture of the spiders.