I had the idea of a bumble bee for a while now and finally finished the painting recently. I don’t normally paint insects and I am glad I took the challenge. I put together a little step by step of my bumble bee digital painting for those of you interested in my process.
I’ve always liked bumble bees. These cute little insects gracefully fly from flower to flower, not a care in the world. They are so beautiful and so fluffy. For this bumble bee digital painting, I chose to start on a white background, unlike most of my paintings, because I wanted to give the painting that carefree feeling, that sense of freedom. I wanted it to be bright and straightforward.
I used a vibrant light blue as a base and started to sculpt the bee with abstract brushes. For the bee, I used warm and bright colors so the digital painting would have a joyful and heartening atmosphere.
I then added some details so I could get rid of the line art. I continued adding details and worked on the light. The fluff was my favorite part to paint. It made the bumble bee appear against the blue background and start to fly.
I blended the colors together and did some color correction to make the bumble bee digital painting more vibrant and saturated. I wanted it to pop. After improving the details and adding the wings, “Bumble Away, Bumble Bee” was done! It took about 4 hours to complete. I loose sense of time when I am creating a painting.
Watch the whole process:
Most of my paintings end up different from what I originally had in mind, they take me wherever they want to. This little bee stayed true to my intention.
You can watch more step by steps and learn more digital painting tips here!
