![\"Detail](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-wing-detail-2-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-sketches-christinefarmer.com_-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"Detail](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-wing-detail-1-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAbove, left<\/strong> and right:<\/strong> details from some wing studies, in pen and ink. Above, centre<\/strong>: three views of a leafcutter bee, newly-hatched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing bees on a thyme plant, in pen and ink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n![\"Pen](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bees-on-thyme-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"Pen](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-on-thyme-detail-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAbove left: <\/strong>I sat for a while in the sunshine watching three or four honey bees working on a thyme plant just outside my studio. This time I tried to capture the positions and activities of the bees, and left the plant as a few lines which indicate the position of the main stems. Not surprisingly, I found drawing these bees very difficult – they are so small and move quickly, and there is hardly time to capture more than the position of the wings or a leg. However, after a short while the patterns the bees make in their explorations become clear. I intend to repeat this experiment again soon as I feel I was just getting somewhere when the paper became too crowded with bees to continue. Above right:<\/strong> detail of one of the bees from this drawing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pen and ink sketches of honey bees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Sketch](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-sketchbook-detail-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-andink-bee-with-gillott-nib.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"Detail](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pen-and-ink-bee-sketchbook-christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAbove:<\/strong> I have been taking many pictures of bees this summer, and these help me to understand the way these insects are put together. So I took plenty of photographs of the bees on the thyme which featured in the drawing above. Here I am working from the computer screen, in order to learn more about their anatomy. A combination of observation, drawing the bees with pen and ink ‘live’, and working from photographs in this way is helping me to get a good result with the drawings. As you can see I am using very little wash on these bees, and concentrating on the lines. In the central image you can see the Gillott nib I’m using for these drawings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dip pen, and Indian ink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/gillot_pen_and_ink_christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.christinefarmer.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/gillott_nib_christinefarmer.com_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAbove: <\/strong>Views of my dip pen, and the Indian ink I’m using, with a close-up of my now rather worn Gillott nib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can read an interview with me in Bee Mentor<\/a><\/strong> which looks at my interest in leafcutter bees, but also covers my drawing techniques and practice, and my photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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