daffodils 2

First daffodils, freehand. Funny how yellow can be surprisingly (to me?) strong.

And a red bellied woodpecker. I painted his back wet in wet and it looked great, beautiful black and white stripes. ... But the paint kept moving and all of the white was lost.

I'll paint it again.

blue/yellow

The first daffodil and Dutch iris to bloom in my yard.

When I look at these colors side by side now I think of Ukraine.

 

#charsartclass

markers

gouache

gouache

I signed up for an 8 week zoom class given by Char at @blueshineart. (Check out work, and her students' on Instragram.)

She takes a mixed media approach, which is a challenge for me, but a good one.

These exercises are, I think, from week 3. Which puts me about 5 weeks behind!

Often times her reference photos look so difficult and/or complicated to me, but she gets you to jump right in with 30 second to 5 or 10 minute sketches, using all kinds of markers, crayons, paints--whatever you have.

I think it's a great approach--no time to angst over what you're doing or to get too invested in any one sketch. You stop thinking about the "difficulty" ... and the results can be surprisingly pleasing!

more bird classes

A couple of birds I've painted recently in classes with Ian de Hoog on Etchr.

You can also see him on YouTube: I recommend his series on "basic"; his paint "puddles" are really useful!

I think one of the things I'm learning from Ian is where to start, how to think about approaching the bird. And paint handling.

kingfisher

I follow Nadine Dudek on Instagram and admire her paintings, particularly her bird paintings, tremendously. Anytime she offers a tutorial, I sign up!

I think I learn a lot from her about paint handling.

The kingfisher was painted following along with a video available on her website, NadineDudek.com.

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.