Cecropia Moth - New Painting WIP

I had promised myself to keep up with this blog better but it's sort of like walking and chewing gum at the same time - sometimes difficult to do.  lol  Actually, my hands have been occupied with a paint brush and I really can't type and paint at the same time so I chose to paint. 

A friend of mine happened upon a beautiful Cecropia Moth one evening and took several photos of it which she graciously has allowed me to use as references for this current painting.

The Cecropia Moth is a fascinating creature seemingly created to go from an egg to caterpillar to a moth with a very brief life span only to do it all again.  The following website has some information and videos that explain and even show the process: 

http://lifecycle.onenessbecomesus.com/indepth.html

I'm not very far along in the painting process as I'm using oil for this painting and it usually takes a while for me to paint anyway.  If I use oil, I sometimes have to wait for the paint to firm up to be able to add more paint.

Here is where I am at the moment with lots more to go of course:

The wings are very detailed and seem to have a powdery substance on them which I'm trying to figure out how to paint.  Also, I don't have a detailed drawing for this painting but am just "winging" it, pun intended.  The moth's markings are somewhat complex so it takes a bit of time to figure out where the various markings should be located on the painting.  The beauty of oil paint is that it can either be wiped off fairly easily or painted over if a mistake is made.

I hope to finish this in the next few days.