European Honey Bee - Insect Illustration - A3 outlet Giclée Print

An entomological study of the European Honey Bee, (Apis Mellifera).

This is an unframed giclée print of the original artwork which was made with fineliner, watercolour, pencil and gouache.

Bees are are fastly becoming one of the most talked about insects of our time. They are recognised for their hard work, their ability to build incredibly complex structures housing up to tens of thousands of bees and are the makers of that delicious honey we all enjoy so much.

Unfortunately, bees as well as many other insects are under threat from a number of factors, one being the heavy use of pesticides. The use of these particular chemicals can not only kill bees but can have a long term effect on bee populations especially if the queens are exposed to them. When this happens, a queens' production of laying eggs can slow or in some cases stop altogether. Climate change has been another contributing factor where extreme weather conditions and ever changing temperatures have killed whole colonies of bees or made food production very difficult. Furthermore, colony collapse disorder, varroa-mite infestations and urban development taking up green spaces have added to their struggle.

This particular species of bee was one of the first to be domesticated, resulting in them being one of our major pollinators today.
Bees pollinate a third of our global food supply and are vital to the survival of a huge number of animals and plantlife. Many of us take the existence of honey bees for granted and yet they have have provided us with such a beautiful and unique green world we use and abuse everyday.

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Size: 11.8" x 16.1" ( 29.8cms x 42 cms)
Paper: Somerset Enhanced Velvet 255gsm.

This is a limited edition run of 100 giclée prints from my original illustration. The paper is of high quality and has a lovely soft and subtle texture. It is a bright white which sets off the deep colours and details found within the drawing, similar to the original. Once printed, each edition is hand embellished by gouache gold, signed and numbered by myself and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.

The original was made with the use of stippling, a time consuming technique which involves placing individual dots on the paper and building them up to create a authentic sense of depth and tone. This technique has been commonly used in traditional works of a scientific nature and helps to achieve great accuracy and textures of the featured specimeins.

You will also receive a small sample of flower seeds for free to plant! This is to encourage new growth and build our green spaces around the UK in order to support our pollinators such as these beautiful bees and other wildlife!

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The illustration will be posted in a hard backed envelope so no damages should occur. International orders will outlet take longer, so please keep this in mind when purchasing. Postal disruptions do occur from time to time with strikes, bad weather conditions and bank holidays which can affect the delivery time of your order which are factors unfortunately out of my control.

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This is a Laura Williams original giclée print and all rights reserved © 2022