a bumblebee with artist Renee Walden

a bumblebee

22 August 2024

A super, super cute fluffy bumblebee. What's not to love?!

The focus here is on the bee itself, with all the other elements in the scene soft and blurry. We have fun with painting the bright colours and the little hairs, with the transparent wings over the top. Paint the bee quite big, so that you don't have to use a very tiny brushes for the details.

Full video tutorial on Patreon and Renee's Studio.

Happy painting!

A free lesson for you!

One of my all-time favourite paintings of a stormy day in a ruined Roman town in Spain.

You can do this! Let me show you how. Join my community to receive this free video tutorial.

Join here

premixed greens for watercolours

9 September 2026

I'm off to Italy next week for my last retreat of 2026 and I'm getting all sorts of things ready. One of them is, of course, my palettes. One of the questions I get asked a lot is how I decide which c...

from plein air sketch to finished painting

1 September 2026

A couple of weeks ago, while hiking with friends in Val Ferret on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif, I made a decision that will surprise no one who knows me. An hour in, we stopped to shed ou...

sketching retreat in spain : sept 2027

11 August 2026

My first watercolour retreat in Spain — Cabo de Gata, September 2027. Four years ago I moved to Spain. I've been painting here ever since — and quietly planning the day I could share it with you. ...