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 at https://khilliardart.com/contact/ 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
