Art Journal: The Birds & The Bees

Being alone is not the worst fate in life. Too often I speak to people who are caught in abusive relationships which they struggle to escape from. Yet, I also see relationships that make me long for someone I can call my husband and partner in life. In today's art journal blog, I take time to acknowledge this longing for someone special.

We start the project on black paper and use a white chalk pencil to draw our picture.

The picture is a simple one of a watering can with a bouquet of cosmos flowers stuck in it. One flower is lying on the ground next to the watering can and a bee has approached one of the flowers in the can.

I use shades of grey, white and black to help create the impression of roundness in the watering can and its spout.

I then colour three different shades of cosmos flowers. I again use white and black to create highlights and shadows.

The bee is done in shades of grey, black, white and yellow.

The stem of the flower and its leaves are done in greens with white and black to add detail.

I now spray the whole picture with fixative to prevent the soft pastels form smudging.

I use a white Posca marker to write the journalling: "Sometimes my heart longs for someone to share life's beauty with."

The finalized page layout.

You can also watch a compilation video of the steps in this project here:
https://youtu.be/WSuwwrqbjZY

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
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