Monarch Stamp

Monarch Butterfly Postage Stamp

On May 17, 2010, the United States Postal Service issued a 64–cent, Monarch (Butterfly) definitive stamp, designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC.

The Monarch stamp was designed for use on large-size non-machinable greeting cards. Many cards that require the additional postage will carry an outline of a generic butterfly on their envelope to suggest to customers that they may want to purchase the new Monarch stamp!

Lepidoptera

Nationally acclaimed artist, Tom Engeman of Bethany Beach, Delaware, used images of preserved butterflies to inspire the stamp art he then created by computer. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of the monarch rather than an exact replica.
Tom Engeman is well known for his poster and stamp designs. It was the strong shapes and bold colors of a small butterfly poster that caught the eye of art director Derry Noyes and led to the creation of the new Monarch stamp.

The artist began construction of the Monarch by drawing only half of the butterfly with a black felt-tip pen on graph paper. This drawing was scanned into Engeman’s computer, and color was added digitally.

Working in Adobe Illustrator software, Engeman created rough shapes that corresponded to the open spaces inside the Monarch wing and body. These shapes were built on a layer above the black-and-white drawing and were filled with flat or gradient color. Once the shapes were created and colorized, Engeman moved the black-and-white drawing back on top to yield a finished butterfly half. This half was copied and flopped to create a mirror image, and the two pieces were merged to form a complete butterfly.

Expect to see more of Tom’s beautiful butterfly images on other stamps!

Issue Type: Definitive
Issue City: New York City, NY 10199
Issue Date: May 17, 2010
Issue Series: Butterfly