Bees

The starting point for this series of prints was my experiments with texture. I had used bubble wrap and really liked the texture it produced on a print. It reminded me of the structure of honeycomb so I decided to try to use this with the theme of bees. 

I made a few rapid sketches close-up photographs of bees in my sketchbook. I then made a more detailed and colourful drawing with coloured pencil on black paper.

I created an impression of the bubblewrap in pale grey ink on a monoprint plate by passing through the press. I printed this impression onto black paper. I backdrew the bees onto this texture. I used oil bars on OHP acetate and drew onto the back of the acetate. I also accentuated the hexagonal shape of the honeycomb in a few places and added a bit of yellow/orange colouration using coloured pencils. 

The result wasn't satisfactory. Although I really liked the texture when viewed close up, the visual impact was lost at a distance. The oil bars didn't work well for the small shapes as the thick layer of this pigment resulted in a thick and blobby line when drawn into so the bees were rudimentary at best.

For my next attempt I substituted oil pastels for the oil bars - I also used the oil pastels for the accentuation of the honeycomb. The bees were rendered more precisely on this one but they were lost in the busy background.

For my next attempt I changed to a light background and a thinner Japanese paper. I accentuated the texture by going over the oil based ink with water soluble coloured pencil. The ink resisted the pencil so it really did add to the texture. This time I did the backdrawing using the classic technique with ink on a plate. I only inked the areas where I wanted to draw the bees and I applied a light dusting of talc over the ink. The drawing was much better and the bees stood out well against the light background. They were a bit cartoonish though compared to the lovely texture of the background - I didn't feel the contrast of the two worked particularly well together.

I decided to try a print based on the sketch I did on the black paper. I taped the paper over a large plate and a sketch of the rough position of the elements of the drawing underneath to act as a guide. I used water based block printing ink. I first spread yellow ink in the area of the center of the flower and textured this by pushing the bubble wrap into it. I continued to build up the image of the bee a few marks at a time because the hinged paper - plate arrangement allowed me to look at the results and re-position the paper accurately each time. I used three colours - yellow, magenta and blue without mixing them allowing mixing to occur on the paper. I left areas of the bee's abdomen and eye unpainted so the black paper showed through for the darker tonal areas.

For the next step I used the Windsor and Newton oil bars and backdrawing in white and yellow. This can be seen especially in the frilly stamen structures of the flower and highlights at the front of the bee's legs. 

Because the wings are transparent and the bee is on a dark background, the wings were not standing out well so I decided to draw into the background with coloured pencil. I regretted this - I think it detracts from the overall impact. However, I do think that this print is better than the original idea of bees on honeycomb.

What I learnt

• Water based block printing inks work well for painted monoprints
• A combination of this with backdrawing can be quite effective
• I still need to learn restraint - I went a but too far with the addition of coloured pencil