The Take Off - Work in Progress

It is hard to see right now, but this is the beginnings of my next bird painting... I've been saving this reference for some time now... never quite having the confidence to give it a try. So... sitting and staring at my black supports this week I decided there is no time like now!


The Take Off
10" x 8" watercolour on aquabord
© 2011

Photo Reference kindly provided by Alan and Elaine Wilson

Happy Canada Day

I started this series of painting last year (Summer Treats 1, 2, and 3) and thought I would add another little cherry to the collection. I love painting cherries and I think I just might paint another!


Summer Treat #4
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour
© 2010

Poof

I went with a slightly larger than ACEO size on this one... and that 1/2" of extra space really gave the painting a different feel. I think I might try some square miniature paintings in the future. This chickadee is a poofy little fellow (hence the name) and I wanted to capture the feel of a damp cool morning. The weather has been dreary and wet here lately and I've been noticing the birds are more poofy lately and (hopefully) keeping good and warm.



"Poof"
3.0" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2008

Poppy

This one has been on my easel off and on for a couple of weeks now. Flowers have been my focus lately... trying different techniques out to capture the subtle colours of the petals. White flowers have been especially challenging... but, I bought myself a small tube of cobalt blue and that seems to be the trick for me. They white poppies seem a little washed out in this scan, but there is much more subtle colour in them in real life.



"Poppy"
4" x 6" watercolour
© 2008

Autumn Chickadee

Finished this one today.... having fun with fall colours. The trees are really starting to change colours now with the cool rainy weather starting to move in. I'm thinking of collecting some leaves this weekend and giving a try at painting them from life. Could be interesting and fun.



"Autumn Chickadee"
3" x 5" watercolour
© 2008

Autumn Chickadee, a work in progress

Continuing on my theme of chickadees and autumn, I've started working on this little guy tonight. I've got a ways to go yet, especially on the background. Lots of colours, leaves, and textures are still left to be painted.



"Autumn Chickadee"
3" x 5" watercolour
© 2008

Pit Stop

I finished this guy tonight... taking lots of time to glaze the background. So many different colours in it... all glazed together: purple, yellow, green, gold, and blue. It really felt good to bring the painting size up a bit. I was able to work with the details in the flower much more easily and with much less stress. There is definitely going to be more watercolour paintings on this size paper.



Pit Stop
4" x 5" watercolour
© 2008

untitled chickadee, Work in Progress

I was hoping to finish this guy tonight, I'm almost done... but not quite. Its been a while since I've worked on larger watercolour paintings, and I do have to say that it is quite fun. I have more space to add the details to the painting that I just can't always do on a smaller scale. It also allows me to experiment and practice. In this case, with flowers. Flowers have been frustrated me on the smaller scale lately, so, by going larger for a little while, I can practice getting the details right that make a flower a flower.



untitled, work in progress
4" x 5" watercolour
© 2008

Hot Apple Tea

I decided to switch it up a little tonight and take a break from the chickadees. The reference photo for this is from wetcanvas.com thanks to Diane Ponting. I've tried this particular image a couple times, though I haven't been happy with my attempts thus far. Tonight... I have to say that I'm happy with this one, though I am sure I will try it again sometime.



"Hot Apple Tea"
3" x 4" watercolour
© 2008


edit: I've posted a better picture of this painting.

Friendly Finch

This little guy was just begging me to be painted. I snapped his photo a couple summers ago on a trip to Vancouver Island. He sat patently on the signpost while I snapped a good dozen photographs before flying off.



"Friendly Finch"
4" x 6" watercolour
© 2008

Single Marble

Last weekend I bought myself a couple bags of marbles and spent over an hour photographing those little glass spheres in the morning sun. I not only had an urge to paint glass, but to also use my own photograph to paint from.



"Single Marble"
4" x 3" watercolour
© 2008


This little painting is one of many studies for a larger oil painting of a marble. When I'm done all the other oil paintings currently in various stages of completeness... I'll be starting a marble.

Mid-Morning Snack

I have to admit... I'm not quite done my parents house painting... I'm almost done, but not quite. So, in the mean time I present a new little watercolour that I have been working on off and on during the day. Lots of greens, including my new Daniel Smith Viridian that I picked up this past weekend.



"Mid-Morning Snack"
3" x 4" watercolour
© 2008

A Little Ball of Sunshine

I am reminded of a little beam of sunshine when I see this guy... perhaps it is because I painted him as the sun started to shine after days of rain. I suppose the rain hasn't fallen here for a few days... though I have let him dry before scanning.



"A Little Ball of Sunshine"
2.5" x 3.5" oil on gessoed canvas paper
© 2008


I've been experimenting with colours to use on these little guys. This one is painted almost entirely with Daniel Smith oil paints: Asphaltum, Indian Yellow (a very wonderful rich orangeish-yellow), lemon yellow, and indigo. Other colours used were titanium-zinc white, alizarin crimson and a phthalo blue in the sky. Very very fun colours and I love how they mixed together. This is a colour combination that I will play with again.

Smiling Faces

Or... facing my fear of greens. I decided to tackle my nemesis tonight... that is, my fear of using greens. I used a mixture of my new paints (the purples) and my old paints (greens, yellows, and blues) tonight with the goal of mixing lots of different greens. Tonights effort at these greens produced reasonable results, though I am particularly proud of the pansy faces. Very few flower paintings ever make it to my blog as I tend to scrap them fairly soon after starting. There is something about flowers and I that just do not get along when it comes to painting.



"Smiling Faces"
3" x 4" watercolour
© 2008

Buddies

So, without realizing it, I've returned to the left facing birds... oh well. I didn't use any of my new colours on this painting... I actually finished it a little while ago but didn't get a chance to post it until now.



"Buddies"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2008

Just a Friendly Hello

As promised... here's a bird facing a direction other than left. The reference from this beautiful little White-Breasted Nuthatch is from Wetcanvas.com though I can't remember who posted it.



"Just a Friendly Hello"
3.5" x 2.5" oil on gessoed canvas paper
© 2008


I had a lot of fun mixing blues and greens in this painting... and I think I found the perfect deep ocean blue (upper center of the painting). Unfortunately... I don't remember what was mixed... Oh well, I shall play again!

As much as I said that I wouldn't spend anymore money on art supplies, Opus is having a blow-out inventory sale right now and I picked up some new brushes and watercolour paints (Daniel Smith of course). I hope to play around with some of these colours in the next couple days.

Little Chickadee

I don't have anything new on the larger painting side tonight... so just a little one. Limited palette leaning mostly with the cooler colours... with all the drizzle here on the west coast (and cool temperatures) it hardly feels like summer.



"Little Chickadee"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour on paper
© 2008

Little Cedar Waxwing

Another bird for me tonight... actually, this one has been on my to-do file for a little while now. I sketched it out sometime ago and while working on my parents house painting tonight I realized that the colours used there were very similar to the colours in a cedar waxwing.



"Little Cedar Waxwing"
3" x 4" oil on canvas paper
© 2008

Anna's Hummingbird

I would like that thank Derek Scott (SSP Scottstudio Photography) who kindly gave me permission to paint this absolutely beautiful Anna's hummingbird. I was hunting for pictures of hummingbirds (still perfecting my skills in photographing them) when I was captured by this beautiful portrait of a hummingbird.



"Anna's Hummingbird"
6" x 4" hotpress watercolor paper
© 2008


I had some fun today at a big warehouse sale at Opus today... lots of people and some absolutely great deals. I've completed loaded up with canvas, matts, and frames. Now I have no excuse to have more paintings done.

Little Blue Tit

I had some extra paint on my palette from my house painting so I quickly did up this little painting. Blue tits (I believe) are the English version of the local chickadee and from what I understand they have the same kind of personality.



"Little Blue Tit"
4" x 3" canvas paper
© 2008