Introducing my first painting of the new year – “Snowy Egret”. I’ve been wanting to paint a snowy egret for a few months now, as I view them as one of the most regal-looking birds. My son actually spotted one of these birds in a nearby neighborhood fishing for a delicious pond snack. He noticed that this egret had a black bill and yellow feet – opposite of our common great egret. Snowy egrets are rare here in Minnesota, so spotting this beauty was a treat! I went into this painting intending to change up my painting style a little by attempting a looser watercolor style. I’ve always been drawn to detail, but I’ve recently been inspired by some local watercolorists to try loose watercolor (see demonstration below), and I thought the snowy egret would be a good subject to test this style out. Here is one demonstration by fellow Minnesotan, Andy Evansen: I love the freedom of the brush and paint when I watch artists perform loose watercolor painting. I was sure I could let loose and finish one of these paintings. I was wrong. Halfway through my painting of the snowy egret, I stopped. I wasn’t happy with the colors, wasn’t happy with the tones, and wasn’t quite sure how I could make the painting work. So, the painting sat on my painting table day-after-day, for about a week. I’d walk into the room, stare at the painting from a distance, study the tones and colors, and try to work out exactly how I’d save the painting. Then, I’d walk back out. Finally, I decided that I would trying painting the eyes and the beak, and then see how I felt about the painting. After all, the eyes tend to make a portrait painting. Well, it worked. But, my loose watercolor painting went out the window. After I saw the realistic eye, and finely faded beak, I regressed into my realism comfort mode once again. Within 24 hours, I had finished “Snowy Egret”. I stepped back once again, stared at the painting from across the room, and was finally happy with the colors, details, and tones. In fact, “Snowy Egret” has turned into one of my favorite bird paintings. I’ll have to give loose watercolor painting another go in the near future. Prints of “Snowy Egret” are now available in the Unbound Roots Shop! For information on original paintings, please contact me here.
birds
Watercolor Wednesday: A Pair of Indigo Buntings
The past month has been a whirlwind of crazy! My family has been out-of-town twice, my mom and dad hosted a huge family reunion of over 150 people that we had been preparing for for over a year, the kids and I attended the last of my husband’s amateur soccer games for the 2018 season (his team has been promoted to division one for the 2019 season – woohoo!), and I’ve been working with a great group of soccer parents to organize a recreational soccer league for kids in our community (you can read about the problems we’ve been facing here, here, and here). This Watercolor Wednesday post is not being posted on the first Wednesday of the month, nor is it being posted on a Wednesday at all due to all that has been happening, but I wanted to get caught up. So, without further ado, I present to you: A Pair of Indigo Buntings. My family and I spent a week up at the family cabin last month, and on one particularly rainy day, the kids and I decided to get out our paints. As I sat gazing out of the large lakeside windows, I remembered seeing an indigo bunting fly into the very windows I was peering out of just a few years ago. At the time, I ran out onto the deck and looked over the railing to see an immature male indigo bunting sitting stunned in the shrubs. His bright blue feathers were just beginning to show through. He sat in the shrub for about 10 minutes before flying into the woods, allowing me to take a few photos of him. What a treat it was to sit and observe this skittish species from just a few feet away. Remembering this event led to the painting of A Pair of Indigo Buntings – a bright blue male with a soft brown female on a birch tree. Do you have any memorable bird experiences? I’d love for you to share them in the comments below. Thanks so much for stopping by to read today!
When Bird Feathers Rain Down on Me
When bird feathers rain down on me I get excited. Not because the bird feathers are falling on me, but because this is something that never happens. “What in the world is going on?” I wonder. “What am I going to see?”