"The Little Book of Bees" // Beekeeping Tools and Honey Illustrations

Beekeeping equipment illustrated for The Little Book of Bees - a traditional beekeeping suit hood, two hive tools, a smoker and a honey extractor. 

Honey in its various forms: capped honey, as it looks as soon as it is removed from a traditional beehive, raw honeycomb, a honey dipper and glass jars.

 The Little Book of Bees is published by HarperCollins and Abrams

Artwork © Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

"The Little Book of Bees" // The First Bees and Bee-Friendly Flowers

Illustrations for "The Little Book of Bees" commissioned by and published by Harpercollins publishers.

The first part of the book touches on how the very first bees evolved, from early pollinators to how we know them today. The first pollinators were prehistoric beetles and wasps.

I leapt at the opportunity to illustrate the lumbering legs of a stegosaurus alongside one of the very first bees, who is busily pollinating early species of flowers. Illustrating the 'first' bee was a challenge as there is very limited images available of them. I used images of early wasps and photos of early bees trapped in amber for reference. This one would become one of the larger illustrations in the book, spread over two pages.

The first flowering plants included species of waterlilies and magnolia.

A few bee-friendly flowers: cosmos, Californian poppies, sunflowers, blue borage, squash blossoms, certain species of orchid (Myrmecophila Tibicinis), dandelions, foxgloves, blueberry, cherry and 

tomato plant blossoms.

 The Little Book of Bees is published by Harpercollins and Abrams

Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

The Little Book of Bees // Educational Book Illustrations

I am super excited to share my work for The Little Book of Bees - An Illustrated Guide to the Extraordinary Lives of Bees. Over a number of months, I worked closely with the lovely Hilary Kearney (aka Girl Next Door Honey) and a certain truly amazing editor at HarperCollins, to create altogether around 70 individual illustrations, depicting many species of bees, life cycles and behaviours, bee-friendly flowers, honey, bee keeping equipment and more. The book was published in August earlier this year. 

I am proud to have worked on such a wonderful project. The overall look and feel of the book is a style which I hope to go on to produce more of in future nature-related artwork.  

"Bees continue to fascinate and charm us all – from novice gardeners and nature-lovers to dedicated environmentalists – and today, bees need our help more than ever. Discover the story of these incredible creatures, with The Little Book of Bees.

Bees first appeared on Earth an incredible 130 million years ago. Since the time of the dinosaurs, evolution has taken our beloved bees on an incredible journey – and today, there are 20,000 species on the planet. 

The Little Book of Bees is a lovely, informative book of all things bee - from evolution and communication, to honey, beekeeping, and saving the bees - all in a beautifully illustrated gift book. Perfect for apiarists, Queen Bees, nature-lovers and bee enthusiasts everywhere."

My artwork is used to illustrate the entire book from cover to cover; something I am truly proud of. The layout designer at HarperCollins did a wonderful job placing the artwork and making everything 'fit' together perfectly.

'Bees' is available in all major bookstores across the UK and US. 

I am also selling signed copies in my Etsy shop - available here.

And a selection of fine art prints featuring artwork from the book. 

Girl Next Door Honey (C) Hilary Kearney

www.girlnextdoorhoney.com

Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

I have illustrated a book! About Bees!

From last October to March this year I had the pleasure of working with Harper Collins books to illustrate a wonderful little book - all about bees! The book is due to be released in the UK and US later this year. Here are some work-in-progress shots from my desk, featuring a small sneak-peek selection of paintings…

Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

Sealife: Green Sea Turtles // Educational Illustration for children

Personal/self-initiated work. More sealife! As with the crustaceans, I am currently exploring a more educational approach in my work. These green sea turtles are aimed at children - could you see them in a children's 

book or magazine? Let me know what you think! 

You might remember me posting my sketches for these a few weeks back: here's a link if you didn't see them.

Images (C) Amy Holliday 2014. Do not use without permission.