Another painting completed the other day following more of Ady Almanza’s on-line tutorials! This time it’s not about dolls (for which she is famous) but something different from her usual style and totally new for me. Well, flowers I’m accustomed to but a bee! Now that was a fun challenge I was looking forward to.
The Substrate
Ady used four small square canvas frames for this project. Unfortunately I don’t have any and had to improvise. That’s part of the fun of being creative – making the most of what you have! I used the reverse side of a drawing on watercolor paper I didn’t like instead of throwing it away. First I applied masking tape to divide the paper into four then painted it all in blue (Dylusions Paint in Calypso Teal). I let it dry overnight before peeling the tape off carefully.
Pencil Sketching
With a white chalk pencil, I set about with my sketching. The flowers were roses which I never drawn before, but the bigger challenge was the bee. That took several attempts to get right, and I even had to practice drawing them in my small sketchbook a few times. As usual, I wanted to make this bee cute and animated rather than too realistic and scary, and now I hope I got it right!
Painting Them In
- First the flowers. Following the tutorial, I brushed a bit of red acrylic paint then with a sharp instrument (I used a satay stick) scraped some circles. That was followed by adding light pink, then cream and a bit of yellow ochre. The flowers though didn’t come out as rosy as I was hoping, but never mind! Whatever happened, they did turn out reasonably floral so I’m cool with it.
- And now the bee. I used black but added a bit of white in it so it wouldn’t look too harsh. Titanium White was then used for the wings and once dry, I applied some Clear Granular Gel to add some texture for fun. The face I made beige to make the bee look quite dolled up!
Making it All Prettier
- For the bee, fluorescent yellow was used for the stripes and scraped with the satay stick. I lined the antennas with black acrylic liner along with the eyelashes. The gold bits are Pebebo Art Deco markers.
- Whilst Ady was able to create separate paintings with individual canvas frames, I was reluctant to cut them up. This however would make the painting look a bit dull with four separate”boxes” of paintings. In this case, why not join them together? I then added some stems and leaves.
- With some Acrylic 3D Liner and Molotow acrylic markers in various pink shades, I dotted in some flowers to incorporate some continuity.
And now that’s more like it!
Another painting in which I went beyond my comfort zone. The challenge is so much fun and keeps me motivated and developing more. It’s always a pleasure to create something new! Thanks again, Ady, for giving us this chance. Look forward to more!
