If you know me then you'll know I love bees. They are starting to return to the hedgerows and flowers of Mid Devon and they are returning to my paintings too. I have been working on a very large piece this week and there are quite a few bumblebees in it. Here is step by step guide to just one little bee
Firstly I make a simple sketch
Then I paint the tiny eye, leaving a white spot for the light reflected, there is cerulean blue in there too
Once I add a bit more blue for the antennae, and nosey bit. I move onto the yellows . I use Windsor yellow and cad orange and burnt sienna to add graduation of colour to show light on the bee. I treat each little bee like finished painting in itself.
Then I add the blacks, be careful you remember which is yellow and which is black. I use Paynes grey for the blacks with blues in there too. Leave the yellow wet enough to allow the colours to merge without loosing the definition
i also painted his little legs
I keep going and added the pollen sack too with my lovely Windsor yellow, making sure there is a highlight on there.
Then finally i paint the wing and I add some clear varnish, to make them even more wing like
I hope you all have as much fun painting bumblebees as I do x
Polly wrigley
Hi there,
I followed your step by step guide to this very cute bumblebee and it turned out really well … you made it easy …. thank you so much. I’ve just started painting and I’m getting so much pleasure from it thanks to people like you 😀
Susan
Thank you for sharing your techniques step by step. It really helps me to develop my painting. Your subjects give me inspiration when I run out of ideas. I tried this lovely bee and the results were amazing. I look forward to more blog inspiration!
Theresa Fitton
I love this especially the tip about using the clear varnish, thank you.
Andrea
I love your paintings of bumblebees.
As a keen gardener, I plant flowers to attract these special fuzzy insects.