Painting by the lake
I visited Wallington Hall a few days ago with my Mam, who is a fabulous watercolour artist. We decided to spend an afternoon painting in the sunshine. It was such a fabulous day, and the bees were out in force. Including one particularly large bee who seemed intent on following me through the gardens. He was about four times larger than all the rest of the bees.
The noise he made when he flew by was incredible. I managed to grab a few photos of him, and some incredibly vibrant blue flowers which I think are poppies. I'm not great with flowers really.
So I decided to draw my new friend.
Bumble bee in progress
5 and a half hours in now. I've spent some time adding details to the flower, completing the bee's wings and also playing with the colours of the flower to get them just right.
Starting to add detail to the flower
Adding some depth, and starting to put in the details of the centre.
As I got towards the end, I knew that a different type of background was going to be needed. I played with a few ideas, including painting in the leaves in the background, but they just seemed too distracting. I settled on this dark blue as a good contrast to set off the petals.
13 and a half hours and all done
Finished
This print is now available via red bubble. Check it out.
Available via Redbubble.com now