Waking up every morning to the sound of buzzing bees is amazing. These creatures tirelessly do their job of pollinating every ounce of the sunflower. I was lucky enough to get some photographs of them in flight and landing on the flower. They move quickly, so I was very excited to capture such wonderful moments. As I zoomed in on the photographs I could see the fuzziness of the bees. I wanted the first couple of paintings in the Sunflower Series to show this excitement.
Number 1 in the series is a close up of the bee working and taking care of the plant. The bee dug it’s head into the shoots and pollinated each one. I love watching them work. I chose to use the same colors in the flower for the bee to show it’s natural camouflage. The pollen dusted the bee and top part of the flower with a brilliant yellow. I chose Lemon Yellow from Windsor and Newton Professional Watercolors to show the fluffy pollen look. I had so much fun painting this bee and decided the next painting would be an even closer representation of another bee.
Number 2 in the series focuses on a bee with pollen packets on its legs. I was fascinated that the bee could continue to fly and continue its job while being weighed down with pollen. I painted the object larger than it is to show its cute little face. I was able to zoom in on the subject and see all the tiny hairs on its head. Creating the face of this bee was my favorite part of the painting. I also enjoyed making very thin lines with many different colors to show the texture of the petals.
I hope you are entertained by the videos I have been posting on Facebook and Instagram of the process in these paintings as well as enjoying the paintings themselves. Please contact me and let me know your thoughts on the blogs, paintings, or videos. I appreciate you taking a walk with me through my garden and marveling at the bees. Have a wonderful day!
-Karen Hilliard
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Thank you again for all of your support!
