Honeybee

Honeybee

Watercolor, 2012
10" x 18"
Gift (TB)

I wanted to try another bird that wasn't simply staring off into space so I decided to paint this Eastern Bluebird in mid-flight, turning its head to notice a honeybee.

The fun part about painting this was the bee.  I took some pictures in the garden, compared them to some online sites and came up with the idea of a bee that looked like it was barely lifting into the air. I tried several drawings and came up with this design. I had the bee flying the same direction as the bird at first but decided it would be more interesting if they were crossing paths.

I added a hint of the feet on the blue bird. I enjoy these bird paintings when they have full legs showing but it was impossible with the shape of the wings.

This bird is Cobalt and Ultramarine Blue and the reddish highlights are Magenta.  The honeybee is Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber, all from my Windsor Newton pan.