Best painting so far. The Kestrel is a great challenge to paint and tried to be very loose in my approach. Still working on getting a better photography setup. The left side is not as dark as in the photo. I cut the paint ion off my new stretcher board and mounted it to a cedar frame as a floating base with 2 sided tape leaving the raw paper edge exposed.

Kestrel 10 x 14

This is the first painting that I did with stretched paper. I made a stretching board on 3/4 nick maple plywood where I cut slots all the way around the board. Them used a screen installation spline roller to tuck in the paper. I then used robber spline stretched and pressed  into the slot to hold the paper while it dried. I like the way it paints.

This a painting of a Tufted Titmouse that I painted on a watercolor paper panel that I made. I saw YouTube video on stretching paper and thought it looked good and having scraps in the wood box I gave it a shot. It actually turned out well. I painted this piece and even painted the papered edge that wrapped around the frame. Just need to spray with a UV protector and varnish. 

Painted a sleeping readtail hawk a and really enjoyed the paint process and am pleased with the results on the back. I added a light background and I achieved the look I was going for.

Red tail Hawk. 10 x 14

October 16. Painting this weekend resulted in a couple of interesting pieces.  I painted the rest of the sleeping mourning Dove and decided I like the negative space and positioning of the bird in the corner as a peaceful composition.

Mourning Dove 10 x 14

October 8th,

Working on a variety of projects and my current watercolour painting project is a mourning dove. I did paint a few other practice pages this week but nothing I can post. This is an in progress pic of my painting. I will post pics of the table I am working on later in the week.

October 3 - The end of the 30 in 30 painting challenge and I want to paint more than ever.

Barn Owl, this is the painting that I was working on over the weekend. I have always liked owls and had this photo in my archives that always struck me a a great pose. I took on the challenge of painting the piece. I wanted to capture the eyes from that photo, and I got close. I purchased some new paper for painting, the Arches 140lb cold pressed watercolor pad, and i can say that it is very nice paper.

Barn Owl 10 x 14

I will be posting twice a week, showing what I am working and hopefully complete each week. For now my focus is on watercolor paintings, but will I also post other creative projects as I complete them.

October 1 The day after the 30 in 30

Today we were asked to post a collage of the paintings of completed in the 30 in 30. I got sidetracked from painting today by finishing the roof repairs to the sun room, I hope to use it until it gets to cold to paint in. I am working on an Owl and will post soon.

30 in 30

A review of the 30 in 30 challenge.

I painted all the pieces in a watercolor book each one occupying a separate block. Not a bad collection for my fit ever venture into watercolor. This is the setup I worked with to do my 30 in 30.

The pages from the book ...