my cats

Above: Gilly, Sansa, Melo

Below: Arya

wading birds

A greater yellowlegs painted in the class I take weekly with Ronna Fujisawa at SaltyWaterArt.com.

Among other things, this class is helping me think more about backgrounds, something I really should be thinking more about, whether I add them or not!

And a great blue heron.

titmouse

Such sweet looking little birds. And striking such a nice pose.

mostly sparrows

                               8x8

Have been going through one of those phases, messing up everything ... Drew a couple of sparrows hoping for a reset.

Picked up a brush and touched it to this jay's chest, and it was loaded with thalo green! You can still see a touch of it. Then further messed it up by adding a background ... Time to start over!

firs

@6×8

From one of my classes with Ronna at Salty Water Art: small loose studies of fir trees. The idea was to play with greens and with water and value.

A fun and useful exercise!

workshop with eric weigardt

14x20

If you don't know Eric's work, look him up. I really enjoy his painterliness!

So I took this 3 day workshop: 3 days of frustration and overworked paintings, honestly ... but I think it was good for me.

I realized I need to be more intentional in my color mixing--on the paper, not the palette!--and in the application of paint--more paint AND more water.

Eric does paint-alongs about once a month, and after I get some practice applying pure, wet color, I'll sign up for one.

Below is a little practice.

gulls

From one of the gazillions of gull photos I've taken! I love when they all take flight!

drawing birds with john muir laws

Another class I took recently was a onetime session offered through the San Francisco Breeding Bird Observatory: John Muir Laws on how to draw a plover, a tern, and a white-capped sparrow. The session was free but they ask for a donation, and I think you'll agree if you watch the video that their work is most worthy of support! You can watch it on youtube: https://youtu.be/ivKYLkICEQU

the upside of covid

... is all the Zoom classes one can take. And I have signed on to a crazy amount of classes. One would think I didn't have a job!

The class I'm currently falling behind on is an 8-week session, each week focusing on a different subject, with @blueshineart on iG.

This is a really great class: subjects I'd usually never tackle; media I don't usually use ... and a great group of students whose work is very inspiring.

AND the volume of work ... I did all of these in week 2!

I kinda totally missed week 3 due to work, but I'm looking forward to catching up.

birds!

A few little bird paintings : Carolina wrens, which are plentiful in my yard now, and a mockingbird, all of which have, I think gone south.

arya

 7x10

A little painting of my little Arya sitting in a box.

There are boxes flung everywhere in my house for the enjoyment of cats.

bird class

Three birds painted in SaltyWater Art's zoom class: western gull, pomarine jaeger, and least tern.

I enjoy Ronna's class; we often paint something I wouldn't have chosen on my own!

more birds

                                 8x8

A little titmouse. Titmouses are winter visitors here in southern NJ, such pretty birds!

                                 6x6

I usually see a lot of house wrens inmy yard, not so many Carolina wrens, but they have been plentiful of late, rummaging in the leaf piles.

mockingbird

                                 11x12

Mockingbird painted with Ronna Fujisawa, whose Zoom classes I am really enjoying.

The feet need some work.

And, below, a mockingbird I painted on my own. I really messed up the placement of the legs; tried to "fix" it and messed it up again.

house sparrows

all @ 4x6

I never tire of the sparrows.

These were all done quickly and loosely. I'd like to try for some larger, more finished paintings ...

zoom landscape class

                               11x12

Painted this WI winter scene in a Zoom workshop with Paul Oman.

While I was painting it I thought it was disastrous ... and up close it really does not look very good!

But, step back and the values take over. And then it doesn't look so bad.

Something I'm often unhappy with are the outlines of things, like the distant tree line, or where the distant trees meet the ground.

When I watch teachers they seem to get a natural-looking outline without fussing. But even when I try for just going for it, I rarely get the edge I envisioned.

Something that will require 10,000 hours of practice.

robins

                              5x7 each

Such a pretty bird. Familiar and pleasing.

Never 100% happy with the breast color ... I want a dark brightness that I haven't figured out how to get.

birds

                               5x7 each

Painted these is a Zoom class with Ronna Fujisawa. 

Persimmon tree on my walk:

snow

                               7x11

... hopefully we'll get some this year. I think it's beautiful and I love the dampening effect it has on reality: everything gets so quiet.

Took a few photos last time we had significant snow here--two winters ago? maybe three! The photos actually don't look like much: all very gray and without strong contrasts. But that gives me a chance to work on my grays.

drawings~possible paintings

My kitchen window ... thinking about a painting. Maybe.

Found a little branch of dried up oak leaves in the yard on Thanksgiving. Did a pen drawing just to observe the shapes ... But I think the "feel" of them would probably be best captured in sumi-style painting. Something I'd like to try ...