I wanted to illustrate a hymn, so I chose “For the Beauty of the Earth.”
Possibly my favorite tiny detail was the glitter paint I used on the bee’s wings:
(Unfortunately, we are short-staffed at my day job, and I have been seriously deprived of GF time in the last couple of months.)
This is truly beautiful. The wings are pretty special!!
Thank you. The creativity and ingenuity I see in the community is inspiring! I am hoping my day job slows down some soon, so I can get back to the fun stuff again.
Beautiful paint job.
Great color work!
Oh gosh, this piece is drop-dead gorgeous! Your painting skills are amazing. When I saw the second photo I thought it was your inspiration piece from a book of calligraphy, and it was not until you showed the in-progress photo that I realized it was the actual , final painted piece. Wow!
Thank you! I painted it in stages, removing the masking as I went. The biggest challenge was the sky. I ended up diluting a pale blue acrylic until I achieved more of a color wash than a paint. And I gave it about 3 coats of the wash. And then went back and touched up after I finished.
I was wondering how you did the blue part. It’s even more jaw dropping done that way, and your result is so perfect!
I wonder if next time you do a similar one, you could paint the whole piece of stock the background color, then mask it, engrave, then paint the engraved portion. I don’t think it would come out better, just easier.
Wow, that is amazing work! 
I do think that would be faster. If I do another one, I will try it. Thanks for the suggestion!
WOW… that was a time consuming task to accomplish… but you did a GREAT job of it! Nicely done!
This is beautifully done. I wish I had the talent in your pinky finger.
You are too kind–thank you. It’s a little funny, because I remember a teacher once telling my mother that I needed to work on my fine motor skills. Hopefully, I have improved since those days!
I saw an article today that had images of an artist’s work from age 2 to age 28. He was average until age 10. Then he started getting really, really good. Now he makes a living on his art alone. https://www.boredpanda.com/painting-progression-practice-makes-perfect-marc-allante/
Do you think it would be helpful to me to take drawing classes? Or would I do better taking graphic design classes?
His work is fantastic! I still cannot draw or paint anything freehand. The teacher’s advice was for me to spend time coloring, because that would help to improve my fine motor skills. Maybe that’s why I can paint well within a pre-determined space, but still can’t do squat freehand? 
So my advice would be for you to work on whichever skill you enjoy the most. Or hey, why not both? Graphic design would be a useful skill with GF, but combined with your own drawing skills…you can produce fabulous and unique things!
(BTW, don’t be overly impressed with my graphic design skills. Everything in this piece was either free or purchased. I’m also not very skilled at freehand design. I can combine elements, but I’m a complete novice at creating a graphic design from the bottom up.)
With any skill, practice and patience are keys to improvement. Keep at it, don’t compare yourself to others, and don’t be afraid to make “mistakes”!
