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theancientofdays — Which Way to Veronica's 1
Published: 2007-02-13 10:08:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 692; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 0
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Description
This is one of a rather large stack of paintings I did last week. I kind of got my start professionally with paintings like this. I paint a lot of ladybird beetles, dragonflies, bumblebees. Lots of bugs. The popularity of these paintings really took me by surprise - I was having trouble coming up with new ideas for locations and backgrounds for all the bugs, until I was teaching leaf prints to an elementary school class one day and thought to use watercolour with the leaves to make prints and then scatter the bugs around them. Fall colours look really nice, but I always thought the bumblebees looked best with green.These are pretty quick little paintings - only about 45 minutes. This is 9" by 12" (23cm by 31cm), watercolour with Micron pen wings.
Appy-polly-logies to , who has a thing about bugs.
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Comments: 53
Thanks! 
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Now that would be pretty nice, her walls would be the finest of all. And very unique. So did you do it?
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Oh, yes! It took a couple of days, but it turned out really cute - I think she was pleased with it.
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really? Wow, that was nice of you, and she must be proud of that room 
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I painted murals all over my daughter's room in our first house - Beatrix Potter type stuff. I was just devastated when we moved and the new owners painted over it!
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Omg, I'd faint.. How awful, ah christ, it's really awful..
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Thanks! I usually take a stiff-bristle brush and just dip it in the paint and kind of dab the leaves on. It's so fast that way! I used to painstakingly paint every single leaf, and found that this method really looks better anyway.
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Oh, thanks! I have a children's class this afternoon, so I think we're going to try to do something like this one. Kids love doing this kind of thing.
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Oh, yes, absolutely! I know my kids love doing that kind of thing too.
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Such fun! I'm impressed it only took 45 minutes.. that would have taken me days...
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It's really a fun technique - you ought to try it!
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"Which way to Veronica's" sounds like the name of a song :/
Very nice work! The leaf prints are very clever.
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Didn't Elvis Costello do "Which Way to Veronica's?"? No, that was just "Veronica".
Thanks very much - I highly recommend trying the leaf prints. They're a blast. I think I'll teach them in class this week.
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I wouldn't know..
I remember doing.. these pictures where you put a leaf down and.. put crayon over it?
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Oh, you mean rubbings! Yeah, I do that with the little kids as well - we use leaves, coins, anything with some texture to it.
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I remember once we did rubbings as part of.. studying leaves or something..
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This is adorable! ^^
I love bumblebees. They're so big and fuzzy. I love how they fly, too, like they have no idea where they're going. xD
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Thanks very much! I think they're really cute, too. I can't figure out how an insect that chubby can get off the ground!
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ooh very nice! and i'm not usually a fan of bugs either!
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Thanks! These are so easy - I use real leaves to make the leaf prints and a template I made to make the bees uniform - all I really need to do is paint them in!
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gee you used my name in the title, i feel so specail
i suppose bumble bees are my favorite of the insects ('favorite' being using very lightly) mostly because when i was little i was told they wouldnt bother me if i didnt bother them, and i was happy not to bother them!
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I thought you might enjoy the humour in the title. 
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yes i got a kick
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this makes bees look nice cause its all bright and happy X3
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Thanks! Hey, bees are nice!
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if they dont form a sworming army and sting you then yeah
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this whole swarm came at me while i was on a rollercoaster one time. i must have done something wrong 
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Wow! That sounds like they had some sort of personal vendetta against you!
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i bet they were trrying to get back at me for somethin X3
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Who knows what's going on in their fuzzy little bee-heads?
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I like how you used watercolour for the leaves and how you did the bee's wings.
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Thanks very much! The leaves are a lot of fun to do because they almost always turn out well, but they look like they took a lot of effort.
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This kind of paintings always make my day <3
The brightness of this one ... chaww!! 
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Thanks! I'm so glad you like these! They do kind of have a cheerful quality about them, don't they?
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Haahaha XD That's cute, but kinda scary @ ~@
Dont sting me ! \>d 's art (:
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Oh, I didn't mean for it to frighten. I think I've only ever been stung once, and that was probably because of something stupid I did, so they've never worried me much. Yeah, d's got a real knack for wings...
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This is so charming.
Your work always brightens my day, Ancient!
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Aw, thanks very much!
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Thanks! They're actually very real! One of the techniques I use when teaching little kids about watercolour is how to do leaf prints. We wash the leaves to get rid of any oils that might be on them and paint the side with the veins. By carefully placing the leaf of the paper and mashing it with a paper towel, it usually makes a really pretty print!
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this is wonderful, i love the shadows under the bees, really brings it to life
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Thanks! Back when I started these, I measured the shadows very carefully, but now I just sort of "wing it".
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