Siphonaptera: Synergy Across Orders of Magnitude

Science Illustration • Personal / Commission • 2020
Painting: on a yellow background, a starling carries a eukaryotic cell being entered by a prokaryote, with DNA, electron orbitals, particles, and trefoil knots trailing off of it. Above the main bird, a murmuration of starlings forms a trefoil knot.

FOR
Personal / private commission, 2020

WORK
Painting

TOOLS
C4D, ZBrush, Clip Studio Paint

INFO
Inspired by symbiosis and symbiogenesis, life and synergy across orders of magnitude, and the poem "Siphonaptera" by Augustus De Morgan:

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.

This painting was commissioned by George Haines, who requested the subject matter and collaborated closely with me on the ideas. This was a rare instance where the subject matter perfectly aligned with my own interests and I had a lot of time & freedom to explore, so I consider this a personal work as well.

Painting: on a yellow background, a starling carries a eukaryotic cell being entered by a prokaryote, with DNA, electron orbitals, particles, and trefoil knots trailing off of it. Above the main bird, a murmuration of starlings forms a trefoil knot.

Without typography

Details of a painting: on a yellow background, a starling carries a eukaryotic cell being entered by a prokaryote, with DNA, electron orbitals, particles, and trefoil knots trailing off of it. Above the main bird, a murmuration of starlings forms a trefoil knot.

Details:
quarks › particles › orbitals › DNA ›
prokaryotes › eukaryotic cells ›
starling (Sturnus vulgaris) ›
murmuration

Starling painting process screenshots

Process

Starling 3D sketch with DNA, particles, and trefoil knots

3D roughs, testing composition. All modeled and sculpted by me.

Working this way can be slower than straight 2D painting, but grants a lot of flexibility in return. By sculpting my own starling, I could quickly try any pose, composition, or lighting without relying solely on existing photo reference or having to repaint.

Sketches

Initial roughs

© Olena Shmahalo