Day 30 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge. The last day and today I and i ended up deviating from my normal structure of painting full birds. I accidentally had to jump into a new style, one that I have admired for other artists. I have admired the paintings of Karl Martens, and you need to check out his work if you like this piece, his will blow you away.

I painted the White Throated Sparrow and focused on the head first. Once I finished I was starting to work on the back when I accidentally brushed the paper with a fully loaded brush in a place I wasn't going to paint. From there I just went for the flowing looks you see here. Glad it worked out so well.

This has been  wondrous journey into a completely new form of art for me. It did take some discipline to paint regularly and publish a piece every day. Tomorrow I will post all my paintings from my painting pad together.

White Throated Sparrow 4x6

Day 29, 30 in 30 painting challenge. Almost at the end, and I final did a predominately black bird that is starting to look good. the Dark Eyed Junco is a winter visitor and I just couldn't give up on painting black birds.This has been great fun and a tremendous new challenge. I don't look at anything the same way, now I keep thinking, how would I paint that. Looking over the past posts i see i will have to get better at photographing my work, the image on the blog are not as nice as the actual paintings.

Dark Eyed Junco 4 x 6

Day 28 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge. Can't believe it's almost over. I will continue to paint and post here as I do more works. Today was a painting of a Mourning Dove sitting on a post. To fit in my 4 x 6 space I had to paint smaller. This was a brand new challenge.

Mourning Dove 4x6

Day 27, 30 in 30 painting challenge. Today I painted an Evening Grosbeak, high contrasts with the yellows and some hard black elements made this a challenge. Altogether it is not a bad piece and I even like the branch. The beak is a challenge here, as it is almost an ivory white and a large feature on the bird.

Evening Grosbeak 4 x 6

Day 26 of the 30 in 30. The subject for today was the Northern Mockingbird. I worked with much lighter washes and tried it keep the colors flowing. I paid more attention to the eye as this bird has brown eyes not black like most other song birds.

Norther Mockingbird  4 x 6

Day 25 of 30 in 30 painting challenge. Today I tried another black brid with mixed results. The Canada Warbler is an elusive bird biding in dense bushes, it appears to be elusive to paint properly also. The perspective on the painting failed some due to the difficulties in rendering the blak wings properly.

Canada Warbler 4x6

Day 24 of 30 in 30; I drifted away from song birds to include a Sandpiper. A shore and meadow bird that I have seen along the lake. I didn't do feet, just legs but I wanted to show it wading just for the fun of it. Still having a ball and considering doing a few larger pieces for the end of the challenge.

Sandpiper 4 x 6

Day 23, 30 in 30 Painting Challenge. Today I painted an Indigo Bunting, not a common bird around my deck, more of an occasional visitor. This all blue bird is rather striking when seen amongst the

trees.

Indigo Bunting 4 x 6

Day 22, 30 in 30 Painting Challenge. Yesterday I started adding legs and it went so well I will continue. The subject today was the American Robin. The bird that often signals to me that spring is close. The read of the orange red of breast can vary greatly from bird to bird. On this painting what I painted and what it dried to were very different color values. That is something that I am learn as i progress. It's not the same for all colors and even intensity of a color.

American Robin 4 x 6

Day 21, 30 in 30. Today was a big day in my progression as a water-colorist (I think that's right) a am adding legs and feet to my birds. Legs and feet on birds are most often the third thing people notice on a bird, first is eyes, second is beak then the feet. The wings and tail come next. I know its odd but check me on this as you view my work.

Today my subject was the Gray Catbird, this is a bird that I noticed first when I pulled into the driveway of my home. He was sitting on the rail fence. I love the subtle grays the dark patch on the top of the head and the red rump.

Gray Catbird 4 x 6

Day 20. 30 in 30. It's now 2/3 through the challenge an I have enjoyed the journey.  Today it was painting the female cardinal, I like the muted tones and shading and since it is so different from the male I feel it's like a different bird. The head turn and tilt was a real challenge that worked up to a point, something I will continue to play with. Starting with the next painting I plan to add legs and feet. Check out the other works on 30 in 30 challenge

Female Northern Cardinal. 4 x 6

Day 19. 30 in 30 painting challenge. Today was the jewel of our area, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird. The challenge today was my use of a limited pallet and portraying the shimmer of the green and red feathers.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird 4 x 6

Day 18 of the 30 in 30 art challenge. Today I chose the Pheobe as the bird of the day. I have started to think like that, what is the bird of the day so I get all the common birds I see from my deck into the painting cycle. Still painting tight and can't seem to shake the habit, trying a bird today that is more graduated in color and does not have as much stark contrast. I like to watch the Pheobe picking off bugs and files just at the grass tops and then sitting the a tree flicking its tail.

Eastern Pheobe 4 x 6

Day 17 - 30 in 30 painting challenge. Today I tried tacking a Baltimore Oriole, a bird with a lot of black mainly on its back. The challenge with black showing property tones and hues was once again a challenge. The brighter sections worked out quite well. Still having great fun.

Baltimore Oriole 4 x 6

Day 16 30 in 30. Today was a good day, the cedar waxwing has such a soft and muted coloring lends to making the paint flow and move. The pops of bright red and yellow are just added fun to the process.

Cedar Waxwing 4x6

Day 15 30 in 30, I was looking through my reference photos and kept seeing this Barn Swallow looking back at me. It is a challenge to paint the face looking directly at me so that was focus. Unfortunately the beak area is a little over worked and not quite as defined as I like. The flow of the colors on the wing and the feathering of the breast area onto the back actually worked out.

Barn Swallow 4x6

Day 14 30 in 30, After yesterdays challenge with the Red Wing black bird I decide to do a bird with a little more detail and more basic colors. The House Finch is an interesting little bird that is common in the fall in winter. The focus for me was on the face and eye in this painting. Now the muted tones of the under feathers of the breast are my new challenge.

House Finch 4x6

Day 13, 30 in 30 painting challenge. Wow today's painting was interesting.
My subject was the Red-wing Blackbird. I knew this was going to be a challenge since the bird is all black and showing subtle tones of deep black would be challenging. Well it was more than I was expecting in terms of a challenge, but it was an interesting learning experience. It looked so much better wet where the upper back had a sheen that gave it depth. Once this 30 in 30 challenge is over I will definitely be back to tackle the black birds. I think that more of a layering approach and building up the black may be my next approach.

Red-Wing Blackbird 4x6

Day 12, This is the piece I have enjoyed most  so far. I got the paint to flow and by letting the piece dry then painting another layer I got more of the look I wanted. I love the blue and orange contrast.

Eastern Bluebird 4x6

Day 11 30 in 30 painting challenge. I must say that without the 30 in 30 I may have skipped a day to two. My motivation is to complete all 30.  I picked the Downy woodpecker for today. It's a challenge with the white spots. Still trying to work on the frisket. I wish it was tinted.

Downy Woodpecker 4x6

Day 10 of 30 in 30. Hard to believe that I am a third of the way through. Now I'm looking at some supplies to keep going. I think that I may want to try a different paper. I don't know how the Strathmore 400 series paper is compared to others. Once I get through this pad I will try a higher priced brand. Today it was a goldfinch and working with the yellow and trying to get some shading on the breast. It worked some bit it is still a little off, the paint wast to push to the edges of the puddle.

Goldfinch 4x6

Day 9, the subject for today was the Hermit Thrush. It is a nice little bird that has a lot of mottled browns with an olive tinge.  Not so successful this time. It is a little washed out and while I did get some flow, most moved to the outer edge. The eye worked out well and that is always the first point do interest.  This is still fun.

 Hermit Thrush 4x6

Day 8 of 30 in 30 in 30 painting challenge, today I was working on a chipping sparrow. Today was a challenge of muddy colors. the problem was on the cape but I think it worked out by re-wetting and blotting the area. I need to be careful with layering colors when the base is wet. 

Chipping Sparrow 4x6

Day 7 of 30 in 30 painting challenge. I ended up with a real problem on this one. I accidentally stuck my finger in the paint on my work and smudged it all over the tail area. I tried to lift the color by re-wetting but ended up actually loosening up the paper, when i tried to blot it rolled up some. I was able to smooth it out some but lesson learned. The challenge of the stark white breast and getting subtle shading was interesting.

White Breasted Nuthatch 4x6

Day 6 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge. My wife challenged me to get a little more "watercolory" if that is a word. I was trying to use the natural flow of the paint to depict color changes in the bird. Of course she was right, I like the look, now if I can just figure out how I got there. I left the painting after I applied some of the color and got distracted. I came back to see the the color flowed more than when I had left it. I think I need to let the paint move and not "work" it. Still learning!

Red Breasted Nuthatch 4x6

Day 5 of the 30 in 30 art challenge. Today it was time to try paint a little tighter. The winter Wren is a perky little bird and the detailing in the feather coloration is amazing. Painting tighter, i ended up with a much darker painting than I would prefer, another learning experience. This is the first time I used frisket and that is going to be a challenge. Knowing where to apply it and when to remove it and continue painting will be interesting.

Here is today's painting.

Winter Wren 4x6

DAY 4 of the 30 in 30 challenge and still going. I really enjoy working with watercolor, I am seeing some of the color and hue challenges are going to be interesting. Some of the colors are very intense and a little goes a long way.  You may notice the cobalt blue dot on the corner, I like the way that Karl Martens marks his paintings and his works are inspirational. I decided that from the start that I will mark all works this way and since blue is my favorite color this is how I will do it.

Blue Jay 4x6

ON to day 3 of the 30 in 30 art challenge. Today I choose to paint a cardinal. Vibrant colors and contrast. I decided that i would ignore the background and try to tighten up the painting. I am pleased with the result but still struggling with attaining the colors and depth I want. It will come with more practice, layering colors is the fun part i am just getting into. I am encouraged with the results and a comment or two on the blog has been a real boost.

Cardinal 4x6

Not having any background has made it easier to concentrate in the subject and I will do more like that going forward. Adding backgrounds will have to be saved to later paintings.

OK, its day 2 of the 30 in 30 challenge and sticking with my theme of birds I have decided to do one of my wife's favorite birds the titmouse. learning a few things about watercolor and painting backgrounds. Many of the watercolors I have seen have these cool flowing background, today i discovered that you need to leave the space the the main subject in unpainted, especially if you are not using a color that is dark.

Titmouse 4x6

Since this is a bird with beautiful subtle grays, it didn't work as expected. It didn't show up well after I laid in the background, it was hard to get the coloration right. I think i pulled a rookie mistake and used white to lighten up the breast area. 

A learning experience, looking forward to day 3, I will skip the background and concentrate on the bird

30 in 30 September 1st

Well I did my first watercolor bird painting and this is way more fun than I expected .The movement of the color on the paper is amazing. Control will be an issue, as well as where color goes and in what order. This is definitely a light to dark process, and to many colors gets muddy quickly.

So here it is, Chickadee.

Black Capped Chickadee 4x6