Painting Dragonflies Starts with Adventure

"Blue Dragonfly" (c) Mary Hubley

Painting a Blue Dragonfly

This little dragonfly painting is one of my series of marsh creatures. Not the easiest subject if you're a plein air painter. The trickiest thing about it is that you have to sit and wait for one to stop by. So if you're ever in a marsh, you'll have to wait. ... and wait. ... Dragonflies are there. Patience. If you're still waiting, keep sitting there. After an hour, one stops by a few feet away, and you quickly enlist your brush to capture ... Hmm. there it goes.... So you're waiting for another one... OK... Impossible.

I use a camera instead. I spend a few hours hunting in the marshes with my camera. I'll snap every critter I can find, and if I'm lucky, I'll grab a few shots of an elusive dragonfly. My dragonfly paintings are usually based on a couple of different photos from over the years.

I'll take my snapshots back to the studio, and I'll create my painting. I'll start with drawing an under painting, being careful to follow all the details of the creature - the lines on the tail, shapes of the body and head. I'll finish with the blue body and whites for the gossamer in the wings.

Genre: Animals
Painting Name: Blue Dragonfly
Size: 6" x 6"
Media: Oil on Canvas



-- Mary Hubley