Bees Please!

A photo arrived from Florida via Cheryl Reichner that set me on a bright, colorful painting extravaganza!

It was a photograph taken in her flower garden of a bee covered in the sweet nectar of a beautiful flower.

Just look at that little bee butt!

This set me on a course to hone by bee painting skills.

I began by printing the photo in order to study the colors, shadows and position of the bee on the flower.

I looked at several watercolors and settled on Hansa Yellow, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Magenta, Permanent Rose, Green mixtures, and my own mixtures of gray and black.

My first endeavor was a sketch in my sketchbook and from there I set to work on the painting.

See progress photos below:

Reference Photo provided by Cheryl Reichner

Happy Spring!

Helen