Richard Wilkinson’s Star Wars Bugs

Brighton-based illustrator Richard Wilkinson blends our love of collecting with the richness of the natural world in a whimsical series of imaginary, Star Wars-inspired insects.

Some of the visual analogies are subtle, like an all-black Darth Vader fly. But others, like a Yoda beetle, are charmingly familiar.

Fascinated by the intricate systems scientists use to classify life, Wilkinson taps into that same instinct to sort and catalog—something he sees as universal, even beyond the scientific realm.

In this series, he creates a playful taxonomy of his own favorite things.

See more on Wilkinson’s website.

Images © Copyright Richard Wilkinson. Used with artist’s permission.

“It seemed to me the best way to celebrate that link between the world of natural history classification and that of modern obsessions, while at the same time indulging my own love of painting these incredible forms and colours and surfaces, and my own obsessions from modern culture, was to try to create insects, plants, animals, etc. that resemble these icons of the modern world.”