I have almost finished this commission.. and I really do like this one. It’s been a real pleasure to paint this Bombus hortorum, the Garden Bumble Bee. I am very fond of these bees and loved watching them clamber around Dad’s honeysuckle in the summer.
I have said before how fascinating it is to watch how they move, how they alight on the flowers, how they unfurl their extra long tongues and how they hold onto the sides of flowers with their feet.
I had been undecided about including that long tongue, but it is such a characteristic of this bee and after all she is approaching some delicious nectar filled flowers and this is very much how you would see her!!
This is quite a big painting.. well big for me.. Its about 14×15 inches. I just got rather carried away with the honeysuckle and I forgot to take more step by step photos…but, never mind, maybe next time.
For framing I would crop in, something more like this:
I tend to like off centre things and to have some nice white space. I work so hard to keep that space clean that I think I need to celebrate it :).
It would be a shame to chop anything away – and, to my eyes, the emptiness seems greater in the uncropped version.
No wonder you got caught up in the honeysuckle. Impressively wild and art-nouveauish.
That's so pretty! Thanks.
I enjoy cropping my photos. Granted I am not started with art work I created, but still, cropping is a way to focus the 'reader'. See? This detail, colour? Here?
I revel in your combination of pencilled plant and painted 'living' bee!
Hi there all.. and thanks very much. I should hasten to add that the cropping will be done by the mount, so all of the picture will remain and what you see will in the end be up to Peter and Di who commissioned this piece.
As with everything in art it is personal choice, which makes the whole thing about being an artist so fraught with problems and the eternal question…"Do I do it because I think it is right or to please a client.?"
Lucy: the honeysuckle was gorgeous..and hard to stop.. 🙂
Town Mouse: thank you!!
EE : thanks and yes I think it is about making something pop out, changing the focal point etc.. again a matter of taste.
I know what I like but that doesnt mean to say I am right 🙂