Draw A Bird, July 2020, Plus the 1st Week’s Recap of World Watercolor Month

Hi friends. For this month’s Draw A Bird day, I painted an osprey portrait. When on vacation, we enjoy watching osprey fly over the ocean looking for big fish. Even better is when you see them flying away with their tasty meal (although a feel a little bad for the fish). We also like to see another type of osprey practicing maneuvers up and down the beach, as you will see in the last picture below.

Osprey

Charlie, the founder of Doodlewash and World Watercolor Month (WWCM), has given us thought-provoking prompts this year for WWCM, and here are my interpretations for the first week. These paintings are not meant to be masterpieces. The point is to simply enjoy the process of painting and not worry about the end product so much.

Rejoice – “The world rejoices in flowers”

Texture – Rust

Playful – Jumping in the Surf

Quiet – Tea and Reading

My Favorite Color – Blue

Flow – Shower

Free – Marines practice Osprey maneuvers over the beach we visit

World Watercolor Month is an annual global charitable event featuring the ultimate challenge of 31 Watercolors in 31 days.   Artists around the globe come together to paint the world with beautiful watercolor and help raise awareness for arts education to get art supplies for kids who need them.  If you want to know more or help deserving children obtain art supplies, please check out the official WWCM website here. See you next week with a recap of week 2. Stay safe out there!

Shells, #WorldWatercolorGroup

This month I decided to work on a larger painting that would also correspond with a WWG prompt, and I was guided by my love of the beach.  Since my beach tutorial book was still out from painting the hermit crab, I zeroed in on these shells.

Shells

This painting has several layers for the background in order to build up the variations in color.  I didn’t follow the instructions totally because I never have the exact colors as specified, and actually I thought it suggested too many colors anyhow.  That does nothing but confuse me, so I ended up using only five colors in the painting and mixing my own variations as necessary.  Hopefully this painting helps transport your thoughts to a warm, tropical place on this cold February day.

 

Beachcombing #NatureDoodlewash

I love the look of loose watercolor painting but find it a challenge as it does not come naturally to me.  However, when reviewing vacation photos I knew this one would be a perfect candidate for a loose style and a #NatureDoodlewash.  This is my husband, Jerry, walking along the surf one peaceful morning, and I am sure he was diligently looking for shark teeth.  We have a friendly family competition to see who can find the largest one each year, and this year Jerry won the bragging rights.

Carolina Beach Combing

This NC beach is generally uncrowded and serene, and looking at this painting reminds me what a restful place it is.  In the lyrics of James Taylor, “I’m goin’ to Carolina in my mind.”

 

Lion’s Paw Scallop #NatureDoodlewash

When we go to the beach as a family, our goal is to relax and reconnect.  A favorite activity is simply walking along the beach, observing and exploring, looking mostly for sharks teeth and any novelties that wash ashore.

A few years ago I spotted a bright orange color in the surf at low tide, just as the tide was starting to creep up.  I figured what I saw was probably a washed away beach toy but wanted to see for sure. The orange object was covered by the quickly rising tide a couple of times, but I was able to keep track of it under the waves because of the bright color.  Reaching for a third time I finally had this great Lion’s Paw scallop shell in my grip.  It was such fun to paint, too, because of its unusual color.

Lion’s Paw Scallop Shell in watercolor

Over the next few weeks I will share paintings of other beachy goodness as I participate in the #naturedoodlewash adventure.  Again, thanks to Charlie for hosting the event.

Hope you all have a terrific weekend!

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