Favorite Drawing: Studies from Nature

Maria Sibylla Merian captured a moth and butterfly so accurately in this piece that it has been used as a reference by botanists. I enjoy looking at this drawing because it consists of all things from nature that we see almost daily and it represents them so realistically. She has made it so that you almost feel like you can reach out and touch them by using actual texture and trompe l'oel. Trompe l'oel is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the objects exist in three dimensions. This drawing is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.