Watercolor Painting: Blue Jay


Time for another watercolor painting! I have painted two butterflies from photographs I found on google, this time I'm painting a blue jay. As a reminder if you haven't been following my blog, I started painting with watercolors this summer and have been teaching myself various techniques via the internet and lots of practice (so I'm a beginner). 


I sketched out the bird and the branch, but not much else on this one. I figured I'd wing (pun intended) the background as I went.


As you can see in the painting above, I wetted down the background and laid down some color. In the first pass of the background, the crabapple blossom areas are purple, I changed them to a pinker shade as I worked on the background. I also ended up removing the branch on the right. It left the painting a bit off balance, but I didn't like the angle the branch was coming out at. Every layer of paint, brought the colors closer to what I wanted them--that's one of my favorite features of watercolor painting--that you can layer and remove paint to reach the effect you'd like.


My biggest challenge with this painting was the crabapple blossoms. I couldn't seem to get them to look right, even in the watercolor-y out of focus way. After lots of detail work, I ended up very satisfied with the bird, and I'll probably crop some of the right side of the photo off if/when I frame it since it ended up as just a blank area.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plastic Wrap Alcohol Ink on Small Ceramic Bowl

Image
A while back I picked up some small white bowls from Big Lots ( these look similar ) with a nice satin finish. I already inked one bowl using the flame method , but I still have a few bowls left, so I decided to give one the plastic wrap treatment. I got out my craft mat and some alcohol inks . Then I cleaned my bowl with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and removed the sale sticker from the bottom. I tore a piece of plastic wrap off the roll that was large enough to cover my bowl, and I set it down on my craft mat, being sure not to smooth it out. Then I dripped ink on the plastic wrap until I liked the combination of colors and the plastic was mostly full of color. Then I placed my bowl in the center of the plastic wrap and carefully applied the plastic wrap to the sides without smoothing it out too much (so it keeps the wrinkled pattern). Then I flipped it over to dry. I ended up using 7 colors on the bowl. I wanted something bright and fun so I we
Read more

Splatter Resist Alcohol Ink Tile

Image
I still have some ceramic tiles left from my last run to the hardware store, so when I remembered I had saved the contact paper heart from my Valentine's Day Glass Etching project, I knew exactly what I wanted to try. I grabbed some bright alcohol inks , canned air , a 6 inch ceramic tile , and my contact paper heart. I originally cut it out free hand by folding the contact paper, so it doesn't have to be perfect, but I'm sure if you have a cutting machine you could use that to make whatever shape you'd like in contact paper or vinyl. I peeled back the paper backing and applied the heart to the middle of the tile (as best as I could eyeball it). Then I rubbed down the edges of the contact paper. I squeezed out a drop of alcohol ink near the edge of the heart and used canned air to blow the drop out from the center of the tile. I usually hold the can with my right hand and a plastic lid with my left (I use the lid from the small plastic box I keep
Read more

Alcohol Ink Washer Necklaces

Image
I received a package of alcohol inks for Christmas and then bought a second set with a 50% off coupon at Michael's.  I've used them now to make coasters and to decorate some candle holders .  I was just getting my sea legs with these inks to begin with.  I applied the ink directly onto the surfaces and played around with rubbing alcohol as a blending solution.  But I thought it was high time that I used an applicator to use them the way they were intended.  Of course, the applicator is just a stamp with some velcro on it and it costs 6+ dollars....not to mention buying the pre-cut pieces of felt. So I figured I'd make my own.  I was very much in a use what you've got mentality, so I grabbed a scrap piece of wood and a couple of strips of velcro (hook and loop tape).  I used the hook side and lined two pieces up next to each other.  Luckily they were just the right width. I had the sew-on kind of velcro, so I spread some tacky glue thinly onto the surface
Read more