I am not done with this painting yet. I think I want to do something with the bee . . . but I’ll wait a bit to see what I think. I find scanning my work really brings a fresh eye to it – easier to critique when on the monitor than when it’s on the table.
I did this first layer of colors in the gloom of the evening, after work. I was tired but had played out some of the painting earlier in the day in between whatever I was doing. I used a small brush and deliberately tried – and will continue to try – a delicate approach. Both the bee and the borage have a lot of fine hairs which I want to express and preserve. Looking at the scan shows a need for contrast in the center of the flower, along with on the bee’s back, behind the eyes. In these areas, I will be working on glazes to create better contrast, and I hope a better sense of depth. As it stands now, the whole painting is rather flat and nondimensional to my eye.
I am trying to do something everyday when it comes to drawing or painting. Some days only allow for morning time, and that is when I did this drawing of a bee in a borage plant. Today, I used a dip pen, my ca. 1810 pewter ink well, and iron gall ink. I have never drawn a bee before, and using a dip pen and focusing on the shapes, rather than what I think I see (thank you, Sharon, for that great advice!), produced fairly decent results. I’m rather afraid to draw anything that requires a bit of realism as I really doubt my abilities to do this. Practice is needed here!
Borage is a lovely plant, covered in fur, with beautiful blue flowers. If I recall, it is an invasive plant, and one best kept contained in a pot. I had some in my dog free zone (DFZ) this summer amongst the lilies.
As an aside, I’m getting used to using a dip pen, which is really a rather nice skill to have as I don’t have the big blobs I used to get; I know when to refill the well and dilute the ink with water. Something we don’t think about in this day and age of non-dip pens.
After doing the work and pre-work for the Mesa, Sunrise painting, I was feeling pretty burnt out. It was an intense experience as I needed to exercise restraint. So, a loose drawing of echinacea did the trick of clearing my brain.
For the next week, my schedule is a bit different. I have to be in to work 30 minutes earlier than normal, so I did this quick sketch in my Stillman & Birn softcover book. The ink is iron gall. I tried to keep the lines minimal, enough to capture important elements of the landscape, but not so much that they become dominant or what will (eventually) hold the image together. Hopefully I will be able to work on shadows and light, working to good contrast. I seem to need lines – I am comfortable with them – that are clearly visible. Interesting to find out how we all work, eh?
Ink, Yarn & Beer 