Does this mallard make you smile? His cuteness certainly “quacked” me up 😆🤣😁

I hope you’ve been healthy and coping with the challenges of 2020. Stay well, friends!
Does this mallard make you smile? His cuteness certainly “quacked” me up 😆🤣😁
I hope you’ve been healthy and coping with the challenges of 2020. Stay well, friends!
I can almost hear the shrill squawk of this spirited, sassy seagull!
This reference photo made me LOL at first sight, and I hope this painting made you laugh, too! Happy Draw A Bird Day, August 2020 edition. Be well!
Last month I painted a juvenile wood duck, and as I was posting, I decided to paint an adult male wood duck for October’s unofficial Draw A Bird Day (the 8th of every month). What a handsome subject he is!
Isn’t his headdress something else? I enjoyed mixing so many colors in this painting, and because October has been flying by so far, I didn’t realize it was the 8th until a couple of hours ago! Thankfully, our days have become more fall like (we had unseasonable 90s until about a week ago – ugh), and the leaves have started to change colors. Autumn is my favorite time of year with cooler mornings and evenings, yet afternoons can still reach up into the high 70s or even 80 degrees. Sweater weather is awesome in my book! What’s your favorite season?
Here is a colorful young Carolina duck, also called a wood duck, but he hasn’t quite grown his impressive headdress yet. Still, he has stunning feathers and eye colors.
That just gave me the idea for next month — I’ll paint a close up of the adult male to track the progression of its cool hairdo (feather-do?). I can’t believe how the summer is flying by and hope yours has been great so far!
Each year we look forward to the return of our hummingbirds sometime this month, hopefully within the next week or two. I started putting out nectar already in case we have any early arrivals, but so far we’ve not seen any.
Even though some artists draw a bird on the 8th of each month, today is the official yearly Draw A Bird Day! Do you feed your yard birds? Have you had any hummers yet?
PS: I was really happy with the loose effect achieved in this painting. Why is it that sometimes it is a struggle but other times it rolls right off the brush? I’ll take the win when I can 🙂
A red-headed woodpecker favors eating suet, seeds, nuts, and fruits and even can catch insects while in flight!
With its bold red, black, and white coloring, this bird makes a stunning appearance in flight and, as such, is also known as the flying checkerboard. Isn’t he a handsome fellow?
Another week of painting has gone by. I’ve had a lot of fun trying new techniques and following tutorials that I’ve been meaning to paint for a long time. The point was not to make frameable masterpieces but to try new brushstrokes, learn, and have fun with the painting process.
Day 8-Flying Things, Atlantic Puffin. I hope to see one someday!
Day 9-Climbing Mountains, Pronghorn from Yellowstone
Day 10-Light and Luminous, Swan – Followed a tutorial by Lindsay Weirich in her online class “Feathers and Fowl”
Day 11-Beautiful Blooms, Clover
Day 12-Forest Animal, Bear
Day 13-Fast & Loose, Florals
Day 14-Sweet Treat, Sea Salt Caramel
Again, here’s a little more info on World Watercolor Month and the mission to help young artists through The Dreaming Zebra Foundation. This is a charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.
I’m off to start the prompts for week 3. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!