Avocados were not very popular in this part of the country when I was growing up, but thankfully they have reached us in full force.
Avocado
So deliciously creamy and full of heart-healthy fats and nutrients, an avocado is considered one of the world’s healthiest foods. Did you know an avocado is a fruit? I guess I had never really thought about it but, yes, it is classified as a fruit. Yum.
As promised here is one of the creepy crawlies that I am not fond of observing up close – a bee. I don’t know how accurate this one is to a real bee because I simply drew it without looking at a reference photo and am going with it.
Bee
I love what bees do for us and know how important they are in nature, but looking at every wiggling, twitching, alien detail is not enjoyable to me. For that reason it was very easy to paint looser, something I want to do more of, so thank you, bee, for teaching me a lesson in loose painting!
Painting this little white kitten was a great exercise in negative painting. Having not done much negative painting I was pleased with it in the end, but I have no idea if I did it “right.”
White Kitten
Of course I knew the background colors would be reflected onto the white kitty and that there would be shadowing, but how does a painter know when to introduce another color and where? I’d be glad to hear any pointers on this! Happy Sunday!
All of April’s World Watercolor Group prompts have to do with springtime, and after looking over the list I realized there are a lot of creepy crawlies in the challenge. This is way out of my comfort zone because I am not fond of observing these things close up, let alone painting their details. As a kid I had no issues picking up worms but was not fond of spearing them onto fishing hooks, and lady bugs and butterflies somehow did not offend my senses.
I started painting an inchworm but his little face was a bit too creepy for me, when suddenly I remembered my daughter’s old toy called a GloWorm. The face of this plush battery-operated “worm” lit up with a gentle glow when squeezed or hugged, making it a good bedtime toy for a child to snuggle.
GloWorm
I promise to tackle a few of the April challenge critters during the month, but I also promise there won’t be a lot of detail. Guess it will be a good chance to practice some loose watercolor techniques!
Last month on the 8th I found myself sorely underprepared for Draw A Bird Day, so this month I drew two birds. These penguins cracked me up when I first saw their photo because the one on the left looked quite chatty while the one on the right seemed rather stoic. Makes me wonder what they truly were communicating to one another.
Penguins
Thanks to a very dear young lady, Lisa S., for granting me permission to use her photos from the Toledo Zoo as reference. She has a keen eye for taking charming animal photos as well as delightful close ups. Thanks, Lisa!
I recently participated in another excellent online watercolor class taught by Sandy Allnock. The classes actually started in November and I did a couple of the lessons, but then I had to take a break during the busy holiday season. I already knew the basics but thought it would be fun to paint along and listen to her thought process as she painted, and her suggestions are always helpful. It was great practice and I did learn quite a bit along the way. The first lesson was in painting oranges so here they are.
Oranges #exploringwc
Each lesson entails painting different types of fruit, and these will look very nice framed and hung on our freshly painted kitchen walls. It’s always a good feeling to freshen up things around the house during the long winter months.
If you are interested in checking out this class or any of her others, here is a link: http://sandyallnock.com/exploring-watercolor-class/
I was an avid reader as a younger person, and although I enjoy a good novel now and again most of my current books come from the non-fiction section. I have stacks of watercolor, art, and drawing tutorial books in my collection currently and enjoy reading thoughts and opinions of others while gleaning bits of information. I never want to stop learning!
Books
My daughter gifted me a 66-color Try It color sheet from Daniel Smith, so I opted to use a shimmering paint to create the gilded lines on the book spine and front.
As far as novels, I like a nice fluffy story because the world needs more softness. I read novels in order to escape into other places, imaginary or not, and this helps me relax and decompress. I mostly prefer a real book as compared to a digital reader – what is your preference?
