Sometimes it takes me a while to kick off a new series of paintings. Back in early 2018 I picked up a new toy from Amazon, a USB microscope, thinking to use it primarily to capture new background patterns (see my blog link for initial uses https://stacylewis.com/blog/130195/looking-a-little-closer-for-new-textures). After taking a few pics of a peacock feather and various specimens in my collection, my next stop was the Naturalist Center at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences - my favorite place! With the help of the collections staff I was able to take close-up portraits of a variety of arthropods.
I knew that bumble bees were rather fuzzy, but did not realize how glamorous they are! This particular individual had wonderfully variegated layers of fur and faceted eyes highlighted in iridescent blue. I've used metallic and interference pigments in both fur and eyes to capture some of the color shifting effects in this painting.
"Bumble Bee Portrait" is painted in acrylic on a lightly textured canvas, which is gallery wrapped and painted on the sides so no frame is required.
Sometimes it takes me a while to kick off a new series of paintings. Back in early 2018 I picked up a new toy from Amazon, a USB microscope, thinking to use it primarily to capture new background patterns (see my blog link for initial uses https://stacylewis.com/blog/130195/looking-a-little-closer-for-new-textures). After taking a few pics of a peacock feather and various specimens in my collection, my next stop was the Naturalist Center at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences - my favorite place! With the help of the collections staff I was able to take close-up portraits of a variety of arthropods.
I knew that bumble bees were rather fuzzy, but did not realize how glamorous they are! This particular individual had wonderfully variegated layers of fur and faceted eyes highlighted in iridescent blue. I've used metallic and interference pigments in both fur and eyes to capture some of the color shifting effects in this painting.
"Bumble Bee Portrait" is painted in acrylic on a lightly textured canvas, which is gallery wrapped and painted on the sides so no frame is required.