Frogs! 🐸
Honestly, it's a mystery to me why it's taken me this long to create a print inspired by poison dart frogs. They are small, cute, come in almost every colour, and are a little bit weird (and very poisonous!) - they are absolutely what I look for in a subject when I am starting a design.
This is a Dyeing Poison Dart Frog that I saw at Amazon World on the Isle of Wight. He's only about 5cm big, and he's one of the largest species of poison dart frog! Most dart frogs are smaller than a thumb nail.
Despite their tiny size, they are some of the most poisonous animals in the world, and it's thought that their bright colourings were developed as a warning mechanism to predators. They don't produce the poison themselves, but become poisonous due to their diet of toxic bugs. The brighter the frog, the more toxic it is!
Most dart frog species have a number of different colour 'morphs', which gives them each different colours and patterns. The challenge for me was whittling it down to under thirty different frogs to paint!
