Watercolor Painting: Really? A Bird on Aquabord

                                                                                Hello Everyone;
Here is another bird painting on a piece of Aquabord made by Ampersand.  This was completed on a  6" X 6"  1/8" panel.  For some reason, I have never tried the square panels.  I always overlooked them.  This bird vignette actually looks a bit better on a square panel then a standard 5" X 7".  Again, these panels have a bit of a learning curve.  I do not want to talk you out of using them, but I need to give my honest assessment.  Actually, the only reason I keep trying to use them is two fold.  First, I like the idea that my customers can hang their paintings without glass or frames.  A huge savings right there.  The second reason is the work I have seen on these panels by artists that really understand how to use this support.  The colors are magnificent.  Edges are defined or faded out perfectly, the whole piece just looks much better then paintings on paper.  For those two reasons, and possibly others, I will keep trying to perfect my technique using them.  I do believe the time and patience needed to get good at working on this support will be rewarded by how my art will eventually look on them.  In the mean time, My work looks good, just not where it will be one day.  Have a blessed day.

Watercolor Painting; Bird On Aquabord

                                                                                Hello Everyone;
Today, I thought I would try something different with the aquabord I am working with.  I have done a couple of landscape paintings so I thought I would try a bird painting.  The colors do stand out well with this support.  My bird itself is by no means perfect, but it does stand out well.  The more I work with this aquabord, the more I like it.  The whole idea that my customers do not have to spend extra money on framing behind glass or framing at all appeals to me.  Another great advantage with the aquabord is the durability.  The masonite panel the clay adheres to is very solid.  Ampersand says these panels are archival as well.  I still have a ways to go before I am comfortable with this support, but on today's painting, I was able to layer without lifting the underlying colors.  On paper, that is not that difficult, on these panels, it gets a bit tricky.  I will continue to keep you posted on my progress with this support and share anything I learn.  In the mean time, have a great weekend.

Original Watercolor Paintings; How About A Couple Of Birds

Using photo reference

I have always loved birds.  Something about their colors and their confident posture makes them beautiful animals.  When painting birds, you can get really tight and realistic or very loose and borderline abstract.  Because of their colors and the way they seem to blend into each other, both techniques work.  Getting reference material to paint birds however, is much more difficult then you may think.  Really, how often do birds land near you while you have your camera ready to snap a picture in the perfect pose?  How about never.  Since I live in the western suburbs of Chicago, I am near Brookfield Zoo.  They have an indoor bird exhibit that helps with taking photos for reference.  The other way is to use others photographs and draw them free hand making

made up bird

sure not to copy the photograph exactly.  You can not use someone else material without their permission unless you give full credit to the owner of the material.  If someone takes a bird picture for instance and you draw gestural and make your own scene, you are probably ok.  Your painting can not look the same as your reference material.  There is also another way to accomplish a bird painting or any painting at all.  Make it up as you go.  Really, look at birds anatomy from books and online.  Once you have studied their body, draw free hand any shape that resembles a bird.  Use your own color schemes, your own proportions, your own everything.  You never have to worry about copyright violations and it will look artistic which is the actual goal anyway.  It takes some practice, but it is the best way, not just for birds, but for any animal out there.  Never be afraid of something looking silly.  Use each attempt as a lesson learned and pretty soon you have developed your own species that may be really cool to paint and for people to view.  You never really know until you give it a try.  The Cardinal was from reference materials, the other bird is, well some kind of bird I made up.  I don't know if this is close to some bird species or just my interpretation of a bird.  I know it was fun to paint and no one can say I copied anything.