This is a complete guide on how to draw a butterfly.
Butterflies are such beautiful creatures with intricate and interesting wings.
You might think they will be hard to draw, but you’ll find out in this tutorial just how easy it can be to draw a realistic butterfly, even if you’re a beginner.
In this tutorial, we’ll go through:
Let’s begin!
Tools needed for this tutorial
For this tutorial you’ll need:
- iPad Pro
- Apple Pencil
- Procreate
You could follow this article without having an iPad or Procreate, however, procreate will make the process a bit faster.
Without further-a-do, let’s get to drawing!
How to Draw Butterflies: The Basics
How to Draw the Body of a butterfly (Base)
Step 1. Draw a vertical line
Start by opening a new canvas and on it, draw a vertical line to determine the center of your butterfly.
Step 2. Let’s get some assistance
In this tutorial, we’ll be using an amazing tool in Procreate a lot.
The Drawing guides.
To find them, go to the small wrench on the top left of your screen.
Go to canvas and turn on “Drawing Guide”.
After that, go to “Edit Drawing Guide”.
In this menu, you’ll find different types of drawing guides.
For this tutorial, we’ll use Symmetry.
Place the line on top of the vertical line you drew at the beginning.
Press “done” and that’s it.
Now everything you draw on one side will appear as well on the other side!
Just a small little trick to save you time!
Step 3. Draw the head
Start to draw a small circle on the top of the line you drew at the beginning for the head of the butterfly.
Step 4. Divide the body
Use the size of the small circle to divide the line using 5 small lines.
Two of these sections will determine the length of the thorax.
And the remaining 3 will be the abdomen.
Draw two small curved lines to join the thorax to the abdomen
Step 5. It’s a hairy thorax
The thorax is furry for almost all butterflies.
Using small lines, make the thorax hairy.
Step 6. How’s your head?
I haven’t got any complaints.
Sorry about that.
Draw a smaller circle inside the circle you drew for the head.
Using oval shapes, draw the eyes.
Draw two small mountains in between the eyes.
This will be your butterfly’s palpi, sort of a butterfly sensory mustache that helps it know if something is food or not.
On the outside of the palpi, draw the antennae.
Step 7. Are those butterfly abs?
Go to the abdomen of your butterfly.
Using the first of the three divisions, make a line to mark out the first division of the abdomen.
Cut the second section in half.
Use those marks to create two more sections.
Divide the last section into 3 parts.
Step 8. Clean it up
Make a new layer and place it on top of what you just drew.
Click the layer again to open the menu.
Press “drawing assist” to have the symmetry tool activated on this new layer.
Use the guides you created, clean up your butterfly body illustration.
How to draw butterfly wings (base)
Step 1. Where do the wings go?
Make a new layer.
Use the size of the head to make a mark in the thorax, divide that section in half.
Find the center between that point and the end of the thorax.
This is the point where the butterfly wings will start.
Step 2. Top wing guidelines
Don’t worry about following this step on both sides, later on, we’ll turn on the symmetry tool again, for now, let’s do the guidelines for the wings.
Use the size of the body of the butterfly without the antennae to create a horizontal line from the point you created in step 1.
Using the same measurement as before, draw a diagonal line from the same point.
Draw a curved line to join these two lines you just created.
Follow that curved line to create the sides of the top wing.
For the final part, let’s create the tip of the top wing.
Draw a small “shark fin” shape at the end to create the tip of the wing.
Step 3. Bottom wing guidelines
From the same initial point and with the same measurement as before, draw two diagonal lines to start with the bottom wing.
Join these two lines with a curved line.
Continue this curved line on both sides to create the bottom wing base.
Step 4. Draw both wings
Ok, now that you’ve done the guidelines for the top and bottom wing, it’s time to draw them for real.
To do this, make a new layer and place it on top of the guidelines.
Click on the new layer to open the layer menu.
Just as we did before, press “drawing assist” to turn on the symmetry tool.
Once you’ve done that, start tracing the guidelines to create the base of the wings of your butterfly.
Remember that from the top view, the top wing is always on top of the bottom wing.
Step 5. Basic wing veining - Guidelines
Every species of butterfly had different veinings on its wings.
Right now, we’ll work on a basic set of veins but later in the tutorial, we’ll get to specific butterfly species and the veins on their wings.
Step 6. Top wing basic veining
To start divide the outer side of the upper wing into 6 sections.
Each section should be a bit bigger than the past one as they go down.
Once you’ve done this, draw lines from the marks to the point where the wing comes out.
Divide the top section into 4 parts and make 4 curved lines.
After this, divide the bottom section in half.
Now, let’s mark a point on 5 of those lines like this.
Join the dots and erase the extra lines.
To finish the top wing, add some folds in between the first marks you made.
Step 7. Bottom wing veining base
Now for the bottom wing.
Make 7 marks on the bottom wing.
Now, count 3 of those points, and make a mark on the 4th line of the bottom wing.
Make marks on the 2 lines surrounding each side of the line you made the first mark on.
After you make the 5 markings, join the dots using curved lines.
To finish the bottom wing, draw some folds in between the first lines you drew.
Step 8. Trace the guidelines!
Make a new layer and place it on top of everything you just made.
Click the layer to open the layer menu and turn on “drawing assist”
Start tracing the veining so both sets of wings have them.
And there you go! The basic body and wings of your butterfly.
You could get creative with this and add any color or marks you want but if you want to learn to draw real butterflies, let’s continue our journey.
Different wing shapes and veins
In this weird, wild world of ours, there are so many different butterflies.
Each with its specific wing shape.
Each species of butterfly has its own distinct set of veins and markings.
And some of them are pretty insane if you ask me.
Let’s get to some specific butterfly species!
How to draw a Monarch Butterfly
For these tutorials, we’ll use the basic butterfly we drew before.
If you weren’t following along and are all about the specific butterflies, here’s a ready-to-use procreate file of the basic butterfly for you.
Step 1. Fix those wings
Make a new layer and add some small curves at the ends of the wings to create the shape of the monarch’s butterfly wings.
Step 2. Monarch markings - top wing
Start by making an arched and curvy line.
Add an extra line at the bottom of the top wing.
Next, make 4 big shapes on the top of the top wing and 4 smaller shapes more toward the inside of the top wing.
Add some extra spots toward the bottom of the top wing.
Make smaller dots and marks toward the outer edge of the upper wing.
Now add some marks on the edge of the wing.
To finish the marks on the upper wing, make the veins darker.
Step 3. Monarch markings - bottom wing
Let’s move on to the bottom wing.
Make sort of a wiggly reverse “c” shape.
Draw small dots on each of the divisions.
Add some extra marks toward the inner side of the wing.
Now, make some marks on the edge of the wing.
Darken the veins.
And there you go, those are the guidelines for the monarch butterfly markings.
Step 4. Make it double
Make a new layer and place it on top.
Click on the layer to open the layer menu and press “Drawing Assist” to turn on the symmetry tool.
Freebie alert: here’s a link to the color palette I used for the Monarch Butterfly
Using the darkest color, fill in the guidelines you made for the marks on the top wing.
When you’re filling this part, try to carefully color around the veins instead of just coloring everything in one go.
Once that’s done, continue to darken the remaining veins of the top wing.
Now, make the edges of the marks a bit “dirty”.
Using the same color, fill in the marks of the bottom wing.
Darken the veins of the bottom wing.
Add some light shadows and mess up the edges of the marks a bit to make your illustration look more realistic.
Step 5. Marks on the body
Let’s continue by making the markings on the body of your butterfly.
Now make the head dark.
Continue by making the thorax dark as well, remember that the thorax is furry.
To finish this step, add some shadows to the abdomen.
Step 6. Bring in the color to the wings!
Make a new layer and place it underneath the layers you were just working on.
Using a dark orange, start to fill in the darker areas of the butterfly wings.
Fill in the rest of the wings with a lighter version of that orange.
Using a lighter, more yellowish-orange, add some shine to the wings.
If your drawing will be on a background that’s not white, make a new layer and place it underneath everything and fill in the spots on the tips of the wings with white.
Step 7. Color the body
On the layer where you were coloring the wings, start to add some orange to the body.
Darken the head and thorax a bit
Step 8. Finishing touches
You can continue to add some light orange tones where there are light and darker tones for the shadows until you are happy with your illustration.
And you just drew a monarch butterfly!
How to draw a Morpho Menelaus Butterfly
This is a large and in charge, blue, shiny, magical one.
Let’s begin.
Step 1. Make the body smaller
Starting from the base butterfly.
The wings of this butterfly are bigger in comparison to its body than the monarch butterfly.
So, select the body and make it smaller.
Step 2. Change the wing shape
Not much changes when it comes to the wing shape in comparison to the base.
The top wing is a bit straighter and the bottom one has a bigger inner curve.
Step 3. Morpho Menelaus veins
Using the base butterfly, let’s work on the veins of this butterfly species.
This is how the top wing will be.
And this will be the bottom wing veins.
Using the symmetry tool trace the guidelines you created before.
Step 4. Wing markings
Start by making an initial mark on the top of the top wing.
Add 5 marks on top of the line you just created.
For the bottom wing make another wiggly line that's thicker on the lower side.
Using the symmetry tool, trace these markings on a new layer to make the markings for both sets of wings.
Free color palette alert: Here’s the color palette I used for the Morpho Menelaus Butterfly.
Step 5. Color them wings
Make a new layer and place it underneath everything you just drew.
Using a dark brownish color, fill in the mark on the top wings.
While you’re doing this, remember to carefully color around the veins to make your butterfly look more tridimensional.
Using a lighter version of that color, start to fill in the top of the marking on the bottom wing.
Go back to the darker color and continue to fill in the marks on the bottom wings.
Using the lighter color finish filling in the marks on the bottom wing.
Using these colors, mess up the edges of the marks a bit to make them look more realistic.
Using a dark blue, add a bit of shadow on the inner sides of the wings and at the edges of the markings.
Make a new layer and place it underneath the one you were working on.
Using a medium tone blue, fill in the wings.
Step 6. Category is: Iridescence
This is one shiny butterfly, let’s determine where the light will be hitting its wings.
Don’t use the symmetry tool for this part since each wing will shine differently.
Now that you’ve determined the light source, start to slowly lighten the wings accordingly.
Continue by using a lighter version of this blue that feels a bit more “greenish”
Use this color to create the highlights of each wing.
Continue to add these colors to the highlights keeping in mind where your light source is.
Bring on an even lighter blue color and add more light to this shiny beast.
Now that the lights are in place, use a darker blue color to the areas in the shadows.
Step 7. Color the body.
Using the brownish colors you used on the markings, color the body.
Step 8. Final details
Continue to add light and dark versions of blue on the wings until you’re happy with your butterfly.
And there you have it, you drew a large and in charge, iridescent, blue butterfly!
How to draw a Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly
Let’s move to a more “angular” butterfly.
Step 1. Fix the body shape
The Zebra Swallowtail is a bit less round than the previous butterflies we’ve made.
Let’s begin from the base and change the body a bit to make it more angular.
This butterfly is fluffy all over its body, not only the thorax.
Step 2. The wing shape
The top wing of the Zebra Swallowtail is more triangular.
The bottom wing is very different than the ones we’ve drawn so far.
Make a new layer and turn on the symmetry tool.
On this new layer, trace the wing shape we just did.
Step 3. Wing veins
The veins of this butterfly don’t change much from the base butterfly drawing.
Here are the main differences for the top wing.
And here are the main differences for the bottom wing.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool tuned on and draw the veins of your butterfly.
Step 4. The wild marks
Let’s begin by sketching out the marks of the top wing.
Now the bottom wing.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool on and draw the markings for both sets of wings.
Quick side note: Here’s the color palette I used for the Zebra Swallowtail
Step 5. Bring in the color
Using the darkest color in that color palette, fill in the marks on the top wing.
Remember to carefully color around the veins.
With a lighter version of that color, start to fill in the marks on the bottom wings.
Go back to the darker color and fill in the rest.
Now make a new layer, using the symmetry tool still, and place it underneath everything you just made.
Use a light cream color to fill in the wings.
Pick a red color and fill in the two of the marks on the bottom wing on both sides.
You can use a darker version of that red to add a bit of dimension to the marks.
With a light blue, fill in the other marks on the bottom wing.
Use a darker version of that color to add some shadow to those marks.
Let’s add some shine to the wings.
Choose the lightest color and add some light to the cream section of the wing.
Use this color to add some details on the bottom wing.
Step 6. Color the body
Use the darker color to fill the center section of the body and the light cream to fill the edges of the body.
And there you have it!
A Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.
How to draw Emerald Swallowtail Butterlies
Even though the Zebra and the Emerald belong to the swallowtail family, they’re a bit different.
You can see that if we use the Zebra Swallowtail body to begin this illustration there are some mild changes.
Let’s begin.
Step 1. Fix the body
The body of the Emerald Swallowtail is less “angular” than the Zebra Swallowtail.
Step 2. The wing shape
There are not so many changes in this department, the only thing is that the bottom wing has more of a tear shape on the part that stands out.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool turned on and draw both wings using those guides.
Step 3. The markings
This butterfly is more about the colors than the markings.
Let’s begin with the mark on the top wing.
Make two wiggly lines to create the mark on the top wing.
These are the markings on the bottom wing.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool turned on.
Draw the markings on both sides.
Let’s move to color.
This is the color palette I used for the Emerald Swallowtail
Step 4. Fill in the marks
Using a brownish color, start to fill in the top wings.
Remember to carefully color around the veins to make your butterfly more realistic.
Do the same for the bottom wings.
Step 5. Hulk it up!
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool on and place it underneath the layer you were just working on.
Using a medium tone green, fill in the top wing.
Do the same for the bottom wing.
Using an orange color, fill the small mark on the bottom wing.
With a lighter green, make a line on top of the orange mark.
Step 6. Shadows, lights, and sparkles.
Use a lighter green and add some light to the top wings
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool turned on and place it on top of everything you’ve done so far.
With a more saturated green, start to add some sparkle to the top wing.
Continue to do this with different shades of green.
Do the same for the bottom wings.
Continue to add details.
Step 7. Define the veins
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool turned on and place it on top.
Use a dark color to go over the being of the butterfly.
Add a bit more of the green sparkle to the center.
Step 8. Color the body
Use a dark color to fill in the body.
Use the same tones of green as before to add some green sparkle to the body.
And that’s it! You drew an Emerald Swallowtail butterfly!
How to draw Ulysses Butterflies
This is another beautiful, shiny, blue, and weird-shaped one!
We’ll begin from the Base Butterfly once again.
Step 1. Make the body smaller
Select the body and make it a bit smaller.
Step 2. Change the wing shape
The Ulysses butterfly has more of the wing shape of a swallowtail, so the top wing is a bit more triangular.
And the bottom wing is smaller than the top one, it also looks a bit like melted wax.
Once you’ve done the guideline, make a new layer and place it on top of everything.
Click the layer to open the layer menu, click “drawing assist” to turn on the symmetry tool, and trace the wings.
Step 3. Change the wing veins
This is how the top wing veins look for the Ulysses butterfly.
And this is how the bottom wing veins look.
Remember that you can do the guides for this only on one side and then make a new layer with the symmetry tool to make both wings and save time.
Step 4. The Marks
Let’s begin with the marks for the top wings.
These butterflies have a bright blue color toward the center of the wings and a sort of black-brown color on the edges.
Let’s add some more detail about where the black color will be.
As for the bottom wing, this is how the markings are.
Add some extra dots on the edge of the bottom wing.
Make a new layer and using the symmetry tool, retrace the markings.
Freebie for you: Here’s the color palette I used for the Ulysses butterfly
Step 5. Bring in the color
Using a dark, almost black color, fill in the outside of the wings using the symmetry tool to save you time.
With a light brown color, fill in the rest of the outer part of the top wing.
Return to the darker color and fill in the marks on the bottom wing.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool on and place it underneath everything you just did.
Use a medium-light blue to fill the center of the wings.
Choose a lighter and brighter blue to add some shine towards the center of the wings.
Now, add some mild freckles to the center with a bright green color.
Make a new layer and place it on top of everything.
With light blue color, start to add some sparkle and freckles to the wings.
Step 6. Color the body
Use a brownish color to lay a base on the body of your butterfly.
With a lighter version of that color, add some detail.
To finish your butterfly, choose the green you used on the wings and add some freckles to the body.
And there you have it, the Ulysses butterfly!
How to draw a Paperkite Butterfly
Let’s continue with a butterfly that has a different shape than the ones we’ve done before.
The Paperkite Butterfly.
Step 1. Make the body longer
If we take our base butterfly, we’ll notice that the body is a bit too short to be the body of a Paperkite butterfly, so let’s make it a bit longer.
Around 5 sections longer.
Step 2. Change the shape of the wings
The wings of a Paperkite butterfly are way longer than the base we have.
Let’s make the top wing longer.
The bottom wing is almost the same as our base, it just has a bit more of a square end.
Make a new layer and place it on top with the symmetry tool on and trace the wings.
Step 3. Top wing veins
Let’s begin with the veins on the top wing.
Draw a line that splits at the end in two.
Next, divide the wing using 6 marks, each of them a bit bigger than the previous one.
Elongate the marks by drawing some lines.
Mark a point in 5 of those lines.
Join the dots with curved lines to create another wing cell.
Divide the top section with 3 lines.
To finish the veins of the top wing, add some extra lines to create folds.
Step 4. Bottom wing veins
Let’s start by making two lines where the top and bottom wings meet to create sort of a square.
Next, divide the bottom wing into 3 sections.
Draw two lines to create the 3 sections.
On the inside of the middle section, make 4 points that create an arch.
Join these dots.
From those dots, draw 6 lines that fan out.
To finish, add extra lines in the last section of the bottom wing.
Make a new layer with the “drawing assist” turned on.
Trace the veins for both wings.
Step 5. Wing Marks
These marks are fun and wiggly!
Let’s start by creating these shapes on the inner cell of the top wing.
After that, darken the veins.
Add some spots at the outer edge of the top wing.
Now, make a wiggly line to surround those dots.
Draw another wiggly section in the center.
Now, the bottom wing marks.
Start by darkening the veins around the middle cell of the bottom wing.
Darken the veins and add two small marks on the top.
Add some spots on the edge of the bottom wing.
Surround those dots with a wiggly line.
Add some extra details in the center of the bottom wing.
Trace the marks on a new layer using the symmetry tool.
Step 6. Color time
Make a new layer with the drawing assist on and place it on top.
Here is the color palette I used for the Paperkite butterfly.
Using the darkest color, go over the marks you made in the previous step.
Do the same for the bottom wings.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool on and place it underneath everything.
Use a medium cream color to fill in the wings.
Use a lighter version of that color to add some dimension to the wings.
Add a bit of shadow with more of a saturated color and continue adding colors to create dimension.
Step 7. Color the body
With a light grey color, fill in the body.
Go to a darker color and make some marks on the body of the butterfly.
With a lighter color, add some light to the body.
And that’s it! You drew a Paperkite Butterfly!
How to draw a Goliath Birdwing Butterfly
Let’s finish this tutorial with the second largest butterfly in the world.
This thing looks like an acid butterfly and I’m here for it!
Let’s begin.
Step 1. Different body shape
Let’s start with the base.
The Goliath’s body is a bit different.
It’s longer and thicker in the bottom.
That’s what she said.
Ok, moving on.
Step 2. Wing shape
The top wing of the Goliath is bigger and more angular than the base.
The bottom wing is sort of similar but it has a small bump.
Once you’ve done the base, make a new layer and with the symmetry tool on, trace the wings.
Step 3. Completely different wing veins y’all
So, for the veins of the Goliath, we’ll have to start from scratch.
Make 8 marks all along the outer and underside of the top wing.
Make sure that each mark is bigger than the previous one.
From those marks, draw some lines until it looks like this.
Add some folds to finish the veins of the top wing.
Now, to the bottom wing.
Make 6 marks on the bottom wing.
Elongate those marks to make lines.
Join the ends to make another wing cell.
Add fold only to the bottom 2 sections of the wing.
Make a new layer and place it on top of the drawing with the drawing assist on.
Trace the veins on both wings.
Step 4. Wing marks
The marks of this butterfly aren’t super complex.
This is how the top wings marks are.
The bottom wing markings start like this.
Then, make a section around the veins that are inside the line you made before.
Make a new layer and place it on top of the drawing with the drawing assist on.
Trace the marks lightly on both wings.
Step 5. Color time, acid edition
Here’s the color palette I used for the Goliath Birdwing.
Ok! The funniest part has arrived.
With the darkest color of the color palette, start filling in the marks in the top wings.
Remember to color carefully around the veins to make your butterfly drawing look more realistic.
Do the same for the bottom wings.
Make a new layer with the symmetry tool on and place it underneath everything you just made.
Using a bright green color to fill in the wings.
With a darker color, start to add some shadows.
Continue to do this with different versions of green.
Take a bright yellow and go over the markings on the bottom wings.
Take a darker yellow and start to add some shadows to with it more dimension.
Make a new layer with symmetry and place it on top of everything.
Start to add some details where the black and the green meet.
Step 6. Color the body
Take a dark color and fill the head and the thorax, leaving a few marks.
Use a bright yellow to add some color to the abdomen.
Add some shadows and you’re done!
That’s how you draw a Goliath Birdwing Butterfly.
How to draw a butterfly from the side
I’ll be drawing a Morpho Menelaus butterfly from the side.
I like this butterfly, both the upper and the underside of its wings are so beautiful!
Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Begin at the beginning
Let’s start this butterfly illustration with some rough guidelines.
I recommend focusing on the shapes and not the details for this part.
For this part, remember that, from this view, the bottom wind is on top of the top wing.
Step 2: A bit more detail
Start to create the folds at the end of the wings of your butterfly.
Once you like how it’s looking, it’s time to clean the lines of your illustration a bit.
Step 3: The thorax
Start to gently map out where the thorax will be.
Step 4: The legs
Almost all butterflies have 3 pairs of legs.
Let’s add those in.
Start with the 3 legs that are closer to you.
Now the legs that are further from you.
Step 5: The head
Draw a small bean for the head.
Draw another one inside of it to create the eye.
Now, draw a small oval for the palpi.
Make a small circle under the head to create the proboscis (The nectar sipping thingy)
To finish the head, draw curved lines to create the antenna.
And that’s the base to draw a butterfly from the side.
Let’s turn this base body into a morpho Menelaus butterfly.
Step 6. Details on the body
Start to add some small details to the thorax.
Step 7. The veins
Start by creating a line that, halfway, divides into 5 smaller lines on the top wing.
Under this line, divide them into wings with 4 marks.
Elongate these marks to create lines.
Join the ends of those lines to create the inner cell of the top wing.
To finish the veins of the top wing, add some folds.
Now for the bottom wing.
Add 10 dots to the edge of the bottom wing.
Expand the first 7 of those dots and the 10th one into lines to create the veins of the bottom wing.
To finish, add some folds.
Step 8. The marks
Start by creating an edge on the wings.
Do another line following the first you made closer to the edge.
Repeat that twice for the top wing and once for the bottom wing.
Fill in the first section and add some small dots on the edge.
Step 9. The eyes
This mark is one of my favorite butterfly marks.
It looks like there are some eyes on the wings, this is a way that the butterfly has to defend itself and confuse its predators.
Let’s draw them.
Do 3 on the top wings and 4 on the bottom wing.
Once you’ve done that, add some final details.
Step 10. Time to color
Here’s the color palette I used to make the Morpho Menelaus butterfly from the side.
Make a new layer, place it underneath everything you just drew, and start to fill in everything with a medium brown color.
With a darker version of that color, start to add some shadows to the wings.
Now, with a lighter version of the first color, add some highlights.
Pick a medium cream color to work on the marks of the wings.
Start to add a bit of light with a lighter version of that color.
Pick a dark brown and add some details on the eyes and the rest of the marks on the wings.
Pick a more saturated brown, almost red, and add some color to the markings.
Continue to add detail switch a light cream color.
Add some details on the wings with a lighter brown to give them a bit more dimension.
Step 11. Color the body
With a darker brown, add some shadows to the body.
With the more saturated brown, add some color to the legs.
Finish it up by adding a bit of cream color to the body.
And you’re done!
That’s how to draw a Morpho Menelaus from the side.
Final words
We’ve reached the end, my friends, the end.
This is how you draw a bunch of different butterflies with procreate, even if you’re a beginner.
I hope you enjoyed this beast of a tutorial and that it was helpful for you!
It was a blast for me to make.
I would love to hear from you!
Which was your favorite butterfly?
Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, stay awesome!
Claudia.
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