Draw A Bird Day, February 2019

I’ve been taking an online class, the topic of which is how to loosen up watercolor painting. I so enjoy paintings that are expertly loose and balanced and wish I could paint that way, so maybe this class will help me achieve that. I tend to put in many details that make my paintings appear more lifelike, and I think that is my natural style. That doesn’t mean I can’t learn a few new techniques that might enhance or build upon my style.

Chickadee

This is my first practice of a chickadee painted a little looser than I usually would. I had to hold back on the details and it was not easy! The online class runs for the next few weeks, so hopefully I can get a better handle on this. Time will tell 🙂

Cibo di Comodita, Comfort Food

This larger painting is one that I’ve worked on for the last couple of months. What drew me to the subject were the bright pops of color and the contrast between the hard, rustic wood table and the soft flour and fresh food. When deciding on a name for this watercolor, to me it represented a hearty meal of comfort food, Italian-style, which translates in Italian to cibo di comodita. Can’t you just imagine the hands of an Italian woman making the noodles and creating an awesome homemade meal by following her grandmother’s recipes?

Painting the flour was a little intimidating because as I wasn’t sure how to approach it, so I practiced a few options. It turns out that an old, stiff, and heavily frayed Crayola brush from a children’s set of years gone by was the perfect candidate to help stipple in the fluffs of flour. Who knew?

Cibo di comodita in Italian translates to comfort food

I continue to attend a local, weekly Art Club where a gallery is being created, and plans are to put up this painting for sale when the gallery is completed. The thought of this is a little scary, yet a bit exciting at the same time. Wish me luck!

Chipmunk

How is 2019 treating you? We’ve had an eventful few weeks of weather so far with snow, ice, snow, wind, too much rain, and more snow. Then again, it is January, after all.

Chipmunk

Multitude of birds and squirrels have visited the feeders all winter, but the chipmunks are busy (or not!) hibernating. Therefore, this one will have to suffice until the spring. Stay warm!

Meet Sadie

This is Sadie, a rescue that belongs to my daughter-in-law and son, which makes her my granddog 🙂

Meet Sadie

Sadie’s bark is much bigger than her bite, and although she is a large-sized pooch, she thinks she is a lap dog and loves to cuddle. I enjoyed the challenge of painting her lighter fur colors and hope Maura was happy with Sadie’s portrait for her birthday gift. Happy birthday, Maura! ❤