Experiment One: Line and Beetles
I started off with one very big misconception as I began this experiment. I believed that to make true "line art" I had to work in black ink, but throughout the course of this experiment, I began to recognize that line art can be so much more than that. This was the experiment I was expecting to find most difficult, but I ended up having so much fun. I loved working in gouache, playing with colour, and working with line in my own particular way, even if it is a little absurd that I continued to outline the antennas every single time. 

 

Experiment Two: Shape and Ladybugs

The was the experiment I was most excited for, but it got off to a rocky start. I didn't like that bright red, or my use of negative space in my first experiment. That ladybug certainly didn't feel like me. So I changed things up, big time and worked in watercolour. I loved the result, but I still had a Goldilocks feeling that it just wasn't right for me. My third Ladybug was the bug I liked best, although I do love the pencil crayon on its own in my last ladybug. We just won't talk about that square ladybug.

Experiment Four: Value and Butterflies

This was, hands down, the experiment I enjoyed the most. I had this wrong idea that butterflies were hard to paint and way too girly, but I loved painting them and I am going to incorporate a lot more butterflies into my artmaking in the future. I also really enjoyed working in monotone. 

Experiment Five: Colour and Dragonflies

I went wild for colour in this experiment and a lot of the results don't feel like me, but that doesn't mean I didn't learn a ton. I love that soft green dragonfly in the bottom corner the most. To me, he feels like a little fairy sprite. The deep reds and greens didn't feel like me, but I loved the pastels and neons that I used for my last dragonfly. 

Experiment Three: Space and Flies

Experiment Six: Texture and Bees

Of all the experiments these are the two I felt that I probably wouldn't include the motifs in my catalogue going forward. While I loved my flies, I realized afterwards, that a doodle fly was really more my style. And when it came to the bees, I loved some of the textures I found, but I felt I'd need to do a few more iterations before I could really hit on a style that felt like me.