Watercolor – Circadianreflections Blog

Draw-a-Bird Day February

I’ve been painting Roosters to celebrate in my own way the Chinese New Year.

I was born under the Fire Rooster sign and I am hoping that this is going to be a good year for me.

The first rooster I painted was in my Stillman & Birn watercolor journal with my new M.Graham watercolor paints. I bought Steve Mitchell’s favorite 8 colors since this paint is one I’ve been longing to try. I love the paint. I think this is going to be my go to paint.

I don’t like the way the waddle came out, or my text on the page. I really want to take a calligraphy class. Perhaps this is the year I finally do that.

2017 Year of the Rooster

So, take II- Instead of drawing the Rooster freehand like I did for the painting above I set up the light table He-Man gave me for Christmas and traced the image of the rooster from an image I made in 2016 while on a doorscurion in Maxwell, CA.

Take II

I don’t like the tail so I covered up the worst bits with the mat board. The text is boring as well. I really am making a case for a calligraphy class aren’t I? “)

Year of the Rooster

Take III

I let loose a bit, and used my white gel pen, and black micron pen to add some details. Again wasn’t really happy with the tail feather ends, but love the way its head and breast came out.

Fire Rooster 2017

Some traits of the Fire Rooster for those with inquiring minds:

2017 The Year of the Rooster-

1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029

“I am alert

Ready to take action

The first on the scene

The last to leave

I take chances

But I am precise

I know where things belong

I am orderly and fastidious

Nothing escapes me

I am always prepared

I never give up or in

I AM THE ROOSTER”

I can’t say I meet all these traits, but some fit. 🙂

I’m not sure there will be a Take IV (oh man, I had to look up the table to make sure I recalled the correct letters for roman numeral 4) SAD! I did but still! It’s so true what they say about losing it if you don’t use it!

A note regarding the 8 paints and paper I used:

The 8 colors of paint I purchased are: Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, Paynes Gray, Sepia, Azo Green, Indian Yellow, Quinacridone Red, Red Iron Oxide.

I really like how vibrant, and transparent they are. They mix well, and don’t make a muddy mess. I’m looking for a little palette to put some whole and half pans in to be able to carry it out and about.

I used Arches 9″X12″ 140lb Coldpress paper for the 2nd, and 3rd paintings.

I wish you all Gung hay fat choi!

iPhone 7 Plus| PS CC 2017

More to come…

Draw-a-Bird Day Nov.2016

I actually painted this in late October and thought if it came out alright I’d post it for this month’s Draw-a-Bird day.

I’ve never seen a Barred Owl in the wild but, would love to!

Barred Owl in Watercolor

Reference/inspiration Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America

Painted on Canson 140lb coldpress watercolor paper

Paint: Turner Artist Watercolors; sap green, maya yellow, burnt umber, permanent yellow, ultramarine blue

Ink: Carbon Platinum Pen and ink

Brushes: Escoda #6, rd #2 rd , Mimik Kolinsky #12

More to come…

Lazuli Bunting Watercolor

Here we are already on July 8th! Which means it’s Draw-a-Bird Day over on CreateArtEveryday, and it’s also #WorldWatercolorMonth created by Charlie O’Shields over at doodlewash.com.

Yesterday afternoon I felt inspired to paint a Lazuli Bunting I photographed back in May 2014. I used a Pentel Graphic Gear 0.7 to lightly sketch the beak, and snag it’s perched on, but kept the rest the painting loose. I’m pleasantly surprised how well it came out for not trying to sketch the whole bird.

The Lazuli Bunting is a Spring/Breeding visitor in my region of Northern California. I was very excited to see it him and add him to my “life list” back in the Spring of 2014.

Lazuli Bunting in Watercolor

The image I used as my reference is here. P52 18 of 52 Lazuli Bunting-1st yr Male

Paint, Paper, Brush:

Sennelier L’Aquarelle in Cinereous Blue, French Vermillion, Bright Red, Burnt Umber, Ivory Black, Naples Yellow Deep, Warm Sepia, Hooker’s green, Phthalo Green Light.

I painted this in my Strathmore Watercolor Art Journal 400 Series 8.5″ X 5.5″ 140lb paper.

Brush: Di Vinci Artissimo Rd #1

I’m posting this on both Creatarteveryday’s Draw a Bird Day, and #WorldWatercolormonth. If you have a moment please head over and check out the amazing work being done by artists all over the world.

More to come…

What’s blooming?

My Agapanthus are blooming right now, and this sweet bud just opening inspired me to try to paint it.

Painted on Arches Hot Press 140lb watercolor paper, with Sennelier paints.
I used, Naples Yellow, Indian Yellow, Cobalt Violet Deep, Ultramarine Deep, Forest Green, Emerald Green, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, and Ivory Black.

I received a gift card to Amazon for my birthday last month so, I splurged on a Di Vinci Artissmo brush #1 rd. I used it, along with an Escoda Reserva #2, and a Robert Simmons Sapphire 10/0 brushes.
WOW, does the Artissmo brush hold water! I’m having to learn to paint all over again with this brush.

watercolor

I’m really happy with how this little bud came out. I’m feeling brave enough to try the whole pom pom blossom. To be continued. 🙂

Charlie O’ Shield’s over at doodlewash has invited artist, and dabblers in paint to tag their nature paintings, or watercolor work in the month of June to share our work using the tag

#naturedoodlewash. He’ll compile a list of all those who participated at the end of the month.

Image made with Lumix FZ200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Killdeer v3.0

So, the other day when I posted my Draw-a-Bird Killdeer I meant to post it with my second painting, but had one glass of vin too many me thinks because, I actually posted the first Killdeer line and wash I tried. I’m so blond!

I wasn’t totally happy with version 2 though it was better than the first drawing and painting, so I quickly got started on a version 3 which I finished yesterday afternoon.

Killdeer in Watercolor

My notes in the right corner are about the tools I used to make this line and wash.

Micron 0.3 pen, Sennelier watercolor paints, Brushes: 0/0 rigger by Simmons, #6 rd Escoda Reserva, and #12 rd Mimik Kolinsky. Painted in a Strathmore 400 series 8.5″X 5.5″ Watercolor Journal.

It’s been fun and exciting seeing my progress with each drawing and wash. I am happy with the way version 3 came out.

version 2

Killdeer V2

and the first attempt.

Killdeer in Watercolor

With each drawing I got the shape, and markings a bit better, and the placement on the page better as well. My next step is to draw and paint it on a bigger sheet of Arches watercolor paper. I’m going to begin that today or tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Images taken with a Panasonic Lumix FZ200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Draw-a-Bird-a-Day:June 2016

I wasn’t motivated to paint for the longest time. I was planning my trip to NYC, then while in NYC all I wanted to do was take photographs. At the end of each day there I fell into bed exhausted from walking and touring, then when I got home my son: Big Baby Boy and his lovely finance the Dark Haired Beauty came home for a long week-end , so instead of wanting to paint, or develop images I wanted to hang out with them.

…and just like that May was gone! Who wants to paint when all that is going on?

Okay, I know real painters would! Just like I was making photographs the whole time. I get it! 🙂

Late this afternoon the image of a Killdeer I took back in April of this year called me to paint it. I don’t have clue how that happened because, my focus today has been on the letter A, and the Number 7. For the next 25 days we’re coloring and wearing Alphabet wristlettes…a letter a day…and I’ve added a number a day to that.

I’ve been teaching #1 Grandson who is already 3 1/2 years old his letter sounds, along with letter recognition, number counting and recognition, living science, earth science, literature, manners, and appropriate behavior in our house and in public since he was born, but it’s been getting more intense the the last year. I’m so ready for this kid to read and do kindergarten math!

Phew, is it any wonder I’m exhausted when Baby Girl gets home from work? He knows his alphabet from A to Z, and some numbers and letters by sight, but not all the sounds, letters, or numbers by sight. It’s time to step it up! Add this to a very busy boy who wants to play and be busy with his toys, inside and out all day!

Seriously, at the end of the day uncork a bottle of wine! I’m ready to unwind! 🙂

Armed with a glass of slightly chilled Zin I began to draw my second attempt at the Killdeer. The first attempt had too many issues.

Those issues were mostly proportion, shape, and size related, and color mixing. Sigh! If I could draw all my problems with art would be nil! Seriously. NIL! I WISH I COULD DRAW!

This is my second attempt: Still with issues related to proportion, shape and size, but much better than the first attempt.

Killdeer in Watercolor

The image is taken from a photograph I made in April 2016. This painting isn’t nearly as cute as my photograph is. Sigh. Perhaps a few more tries drawing it will achieve that.

I hope so!

The inspiration image here.

Oh, I forgot to add that I used my new Sennelier watercolor paints for this painting. He-Man gave me the 12 + 6 tin for my birthday last month. It’s the first time I’ve used them to paint anything besides a color chart. I love the way the colors look on paper. There’s a wonderful vibrancy to them. I need to add a couple of greens to the kit though.

I used my Escoda Reserva #6 rd, and Mimik Kolinsky #12 brushes, and painted this in my Strathemore Mixed Media Journal.

This is part of Draw-a-Bird Day over at Laura’s Createartevery.com . To see all the bird art posted today click here. Scroll down to the comments to see the links to all the posts shared this month.

To read the original story of how Draw-a-Bird Day got started click here

The post is also part of Charlie O’Shields doodlewash #NatureDoolewash

Lumix FX200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| Handheld| PS CC 2015

More to come

Draw-a-Bird Day Anna’s Hummingbird

How neat that Draw-a-Bird Day falls on Mother’s Day in the US this month. I hope all Mothers everywhere have a wonderful day!

For this month’s Draw-a-Bird Day I painted an Anna’s Hummingbird.

Watercolor- Anna's Hummingbird

Not without much trial and error though. This is my 4th attempt. The first 3 have been shredded. I couldn’t get the proportion right; it was too short, too fat, too long, or too thin.

After talking to Myriam about my trials with it she asked me if I had used a ruler or my grid? I hadn’t. On this last try I used the ole pencil ruler trick and got a lot closer to what I wanted in terms of size and proportion. Thank you Myriam!

I’ve been following watercolor artist Alan Owen on Youtube for quite awhile, and he always adds a matte board frame to his piece on completion, and the work that looked great before the matte frame looks more like art with it. I tucked that thought away to get some matte boards. Lately fellow blogger Jodi over at lifeinbetween.me has been adding a matte board frame to the work she shares and it just looks terrific. I went over to the art store early this week and finally bought a few to see how my bird watercolor pieces look. I like the way it looks. It dresses it up. 🙂 He-Man said I need to get frames now and hang them. We’ll see.

My muse for this Anna’s Hummingbird is an image I made in March this year.

Anna's Hummingbird Female perched on a branch

Myriam thought it would make a wonderful subject for a drawing or painting. I think so too.

To read the original story of how Draw-a-Bird Day got started click here

Images- Nikon Df| Delkin Digital Film| Nikkor 105mm & 200-500mm lenses| PS CC 2015

More to come…

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