Another Mothman:

Take a closer look at this gorgeous painting by artist Jason Rosenstock.

I stumbled upon it while Googling for the site of an artist by that name, as I wanted to link to the homepage of the artist who drew some of the art in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (discussed here). I have no idea if this artist named Jason Rosenstock is the same artist named Jason Rosenstock whose illustrations can be found in the Origami Yoda book, but regardless, this artist named Jason Rosenstock is a hell of an artist, with some beautiful paintings devoted to some outre subjects, like dinosaurs and fantasy and alien creatures and landscapes. (UPDATE: This Jason Rosenstock is the Origami Yoda Jason Rosenstock, according to author Tom Angleberger in the comments)

The first thing I thought when I saw the un-labeled image above was, "Say, I wonder if that's supposed to be Mothman," and, to my delight, when I yanked it from the page to set on my desktop, I saw it was labeled "Mothman.jpg."

Aside from the considerable virtues of the piece as a digital painting, including its use of light, the suggestion of the subject matter by the number of moths fluttering about, and the way the moths seem to be attracted to the luminescent monster that bears their name and the way it regards them in return, I think it's a pretty tremendous depiction of the creature.

Firstly, it looks rather moth-like, mostly due to its coloration and, to a lesser extent, its shape, but unlike other depictions of the creature to take the name literally (Frank Frazetta's famous image used as the cover of The Mothman Prophecies, for example, or the Robert Roach-sculpted statue that commemorates the legend surrounding the bizarre 1966-67 events in Point Pleasant, West Virginia), this moth-like Mothman actually looks like, were it real, it might be able to generate the types of witness accounts that we have.

Yes, the bulk of the witnesses described the creatures as gray, brown or black, but at least one person said they saw a white creature, and, in darkness, it's easy to see how a creature with this coloration could be mistaken to be a darker color (And, in the dark, the striping might not be apparent). Additionally, in pitch-black, all a witness would see would be the glowing red eyes, if that's what are atop of this creatures' head, which, because of the odd shape suggested by the wings—this Mothman does look rather like a couple of blankets thrown over a chair in form, doesn't it?—could be perceived as being embedded in its chest or shoulders. Certainly, if someone saw this Mothman, it would be easy to understand descriptions referring to a headless or faceless monster, or one bearing an indescribable face, or a "science fiction-like" face."

What a great image: accomplished and beautiful as an image and, intended or not, a smart illustration of the Mothman folklore, reverse-engineered from reported sightings.