Bird Art

August Artwork (Draw a Bird Day Roundup)

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

Better late than never, right? Life and work get in the way sometimes, but I wanted everyone to get a chance to see the amazing bird artwork so many talented bloggers posted in August for the Draw a Bird Day celebration!   A special thanks to Kathy at Backyard Bird Nerd and all of our WordPress photographers for their beautiful work and reference images! In case you missed anyone’s post, here are the links to our participants’ bird celebrations from August:

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Michael of A Certain Line contributed whimsical mixed media artwork

Jill at Jill’s Art Journal contributed a brown-headed nuthatch in watercolor

Charlie at Doodlewash contributed a macaw in watercolor

Kerfe at Method Two Madness contributed a flicker in paint and collage

Jodi at Life in Between painted a pink flamingo in watercolor

Dawn at Brush of Dawn painted a crow in acrylics recently (I couldn’t find the artwork at your August link, Dawn, but love your crow too!)

Marcy Erb at Illustrated Poetry contributed some stork artwork

Cave Painter contributed a bald eagle in watercolor

Birgit Winter at Winter Art Blog painted a crow for us

Michelle Kogan painted a watercolor turkey

Carrie of Carrie Cordero Designs painted a tailorbird in watercolor

Jeanette Clawson at Lunanista contributed some mixed media swallows

Snehal Kank contributed a watercolor cardinal

Carolina at Yesterday After contributed a watercolor bluebird

0806 2Arsty Birdy of The Leaf Diary contributed a bird drawn in ink

Teri of Teri’s Sketch Journal painted in watercolor a very colorful painted bunting

Beverly of The Art Prescription contributed some crows in brush ink

Annie of Annie Draws Things contributed a sweet bee hummingbird in watercolor

Carol of Carol’s Creative Papers painted a pileated woodpecker in watercolor for us

Alison at East Witching contributed watercolor cardinal art and at this link, you can purchase a print if you like

 

I hope everyone enjoyed creating and viewing my talented friends’ creations this month! If you posted bird art in August, and do not see a link to your work here, then either I made a booboo, or I did not have a link to your work underneath my August 8 bird post in the comments section. Please add a link to your August Draw a Bird Day post in the comments here, though, and we’ll be sure to add you to the list!

I am taking a blogging break, although I hope to return soonish.    Are we all celebrating September and the advent of autumn’s flaming colors and cool breezes?    You know I am!   Peace and Happy Football Sunday to all!

Draw a Bird Day (June Remix) and 100 Face Challenge #62!

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

It’s time to recognize our friend Michael Emberson at A-Wing and A-Way once again for informing the WP community about the annual Draw A Bird Day holiday on April 8. Some of us love birds so much that we decided to celebrate it monthly on the eighth of each month!     If you’d like your artwork to be included in my roundup this month, please post a link to your bird art in my comments section here.   Thanks so much for joining in!

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I also want to thank Kathy at Backyard Bird Nerd for this incredible closeup of a blue jay that allowed me to get some great detail into my pen sketch last night.    Kathy, you and your work shine so brightly here at WordPress!    I sketched this one once or twice in pencil until I was happy with the shapes, and then for this ink work, I find it usually works better if I go right to ink.   If I try to underdraw in pencil first, it seems to kill my mojo.    Sketching for a few months without an eraser has really helped train me for pen work.    Once I was finished, I used a blue Neocolor crayon to draw lightly here and there in the body of the bird, then go back with a wet brush to liquefy the color and spread it around.    Neocolors can give so many different effects, and are highly portable.  Watercolor would have worked too, but I wanted a “barely there” wash, and my palette wasn’t close by at the time, hehe.    (As a Dick Blick affiliate, I may receive a small percentage of your purchase from this link to help support my site.)

I would also like to join in Charlie’s nature walk this month over at Doodlewash!   Charlie has a different theme each month, and in June he is celebrating nature, which is one of my favorite things indeed, and what inspired me to begin my art journey nearly two years ago now.    If you’d like to join Charlie this month, post your nature artwork, and attach the tag #naturedoodlewash.  He’ll do a roundup at the end of the month showcasing the nature-themed work, so stay tuned for that!

Can you smell the weekend?   I sure can!    Cool breezes are forecast for today and I’m looking forward to it!   Peace and peeps to all.

Draw a Bird Day May: Bird Art Roundup (and Face Challenge #59-61)!

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

DABD May JayI want to thank Michael at A-Wing and A-Way for telling us in April 2015 about the holiday for drawing birds, which falls each year on April 8!    Some of us like to celebrate our fair and feathered friends each month on the 8th by posting our bird art on our blogs and encouraging each other in our work.   It’s fun, and we hope you’ll join us next month!

Here is a round up of our May participants:

Moon in Capricorn at Artistcoveries contributed her lovely colored pencil work of a snowy white egret

Jodi at Life in Between posted a joyful watercolor of a goldfinch after taking her own photo, which she used for inspiration

Charlie at Doodlewash wins the prize for most creative post this month with this watercolor of chicken drumsticks (and they look scrumptious!)

Sharon at Monday Tuesday Wednesday painted a Say’s Phoebe that was a new sighting for her, and illustrated it also as part of a lovely watercolor painting

Deborah at Circadian Reflections painted a delicate Anna’s hummingbird in watercolor

Michelle at Michelle Kogan Illustration painted a lovely Cotorra volando

Judith at Curious to the Max posted her whimsical “Irritated Birds” in mixed media with a haiku

Kerfe posted an incredibly intricate stitched parakeet while her blogging partner, Nina, posted a sweet painting of a turkey

Jill at Jill’s Art Journal posted an amazing piece of collage art of a woodpecker

Cavepainter of Too Much White Paper contributed a wonderful killdeer painting in acrylic

Corinne at Corinnebekker contributed a lovely mixed media bird painting

Beverly at The Art Prescription also added a sweet mixed media bird, a blue-gray gnatcatcher to the mix

Stephen J. Quirke contributed his watercolor painting of a guinea-fowl feather as one of a collection of daily paintings he is creating this year

Susan of Susan Feniak’s Art added a wonderful mixed media painting of some chickadees at a feeder

Myriam at Myr’s Bites contributed a lovely bird illustration, also in mixed media

Snehal Kank posted a gorgeous watercolor cardinal surrounded by flowers, inspired by Kathy’s photo at Backyard Bird Nerd

A round of applause, please, for all of our participants this month!   I hope you all enjoyed them.   If you posted bird art and do not see a link to your work here, then I did not have a link to you or your work underneath my May 8 bird post in the comments section.   Please add a link in the comments here, though, and we’ll add you to the flock!

I’m going to take some artistic license and add a few other links as well:

Lance Weisser at Weisser Watercolours posted this junco a few days before the 8th this month – and please check out his site for more adorable bird miniatures in watercolor.

Cynthia at Sand Salt Moon painted her neighbor’s chicken in acrylic paint a few days prior as well

J. M. Landin of Red Newt Gallery created an amazing picture of a young gosling at a recent carbon dust workshop, and you’ll find that artwork here

DABD May grumpy bluebird babyKathy at Backyard Bird Nerd posted the sweetest collection of photos of a bluebird family from her yard and I couldn’t resist these photos.   I stayed up much too late sketching them, and wanted to include a couple quick sketches of my own (apologizing in advance that I do not erase while drawing, as practice for working in pen, so they’re far from perfect).   Please check out her blog if you love birds as we do; her skills are top-notch and her commentary is always amusing!    I also want to thank Kathy for the terrific photo of the “too cute” blue jay with personality plus that I couldn’t resist drawing that appears at the top of this post.

If you’re interested in waterbirds, Donna’s site at Bay Photos by Donna is always a wonderful place to visit.   You’ll find birds of all kinds, but if you’re interested in waterbirds, you’ll find tons of them in her prior posts, and more variety in the upcoming months, as she begins her new life as a roving wanderer!  😀

robins robins finchRobin at Robin’s Robins is always posting delightful photos of birds, and I tried a recent photo of a house finch from this link.   (I’ve been drawing birds like crazy recently!)

 

I want to thank my very talented artist and photographer friends for helping WordPress fly once again in May, and stay tuned for June 8, when we will open all the cages and let the birds fly free once more! Peace.

Hey Peeps…..Draw a Bird Day May is on the Way! (58/100 Face Challenge)

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

It’s now been more than a year since our friend M. R. Emberson at A-Wing and A-Way let us know that there is an actual holiday for drawing birds (April 8). Many of us have been celebrating our wing-ed friends on the eighth of every month since.

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Sunday, May 8 is only a week away, and we would love it if you joined us! Let’s keep WordPress flying! If you post a link to your May bird artwork either here or on my May 8 post, I’ll post a round-up with links to all of the participants’ work when the dust settles.

I want to thank my friends Kerfe and Nina at Method Two Madness for hosting Draw a Bird Day during my busy season. They did a wonderful job, and from them, I learned a few tips that will hopefully help me to manage this month’s wrap-up a little more smoothly.

I am joining my friend Margaret Parker Brown at Yuba Gold (and I think Debi Riley is hoping to join in too) in painting every day this month! You won’t want to miss the work those two ladies will be posting, that I can promise! I am still a baby artist and out of practice with watercolor, but I could not resist this amazing photo of a goldfinch my buddy Jodi at Life in Between shared recently.

Goldfinches are one of my very favorite birds, so full of sunshine, and so I just had to try a little painting on a sample piece of 3 x 4″ 300 lb. cold press Saunders Waterford watercolor paper kindly provided to me (for free!) by Dick Blick.    I was aiming for something I didn’t quite achieve, but I find that often is the case with watercolor, and I’m learning to be pleased with what the medium (AKA the watercolor gods) is up to at that particular moment.

A few other things I learned:

  1.   Having less time can sometimes work in my favor, at least with watercolor (this really helped with a bluebird I painted recently)
  2.   Cadmium yellow and dioxazine violet do not make the strong black I was hoping for (thus, neutral tint to the rescue, thanks Charlie)
  3.   I’m not sure if I’m a gouache girl (forgot to save the whites and used my zinc white gouache for the first time this go-round)
  4.   It is what it is, and “it” will get better if you just keep pressing forward and showing up!

My goals for this month include becoming more familiar with acrylics, experimenting with all kinds of different surfaces, expanding my color palette, particularly with my abstract work, and getting used to waking up very early to an alarm clock so that I can keep painting every day this month (just keeping it real)!   I’ve also set a goal to get back to a daily yoga practice and incorporate aerobic exercise into my life again.   After sitting in front of a desk for lo, those many hours during busy season (and yes, cheating with chocolate bars), I need to lose a few pounds and stop creaking so much when I move (only slightly kidding).   Wish me luck on all of these goals, and pray ’em if you got ’em!

I do hope that you are enjoying your Sunday, and that you get time to play with your art supplies (or whatever thrills you the most) today.   Shake a tailfeather or two, it’ll do your body good.  Peace.

Happy (Belated) Draw a Bird Day!

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

It’s been one year since Michael over at A-Wing and A-Way let us know that there really IS a Draw a Bird Day celebration every year on April 8…..and we’ve been celebrating our wing-ed friends on the eighth of every month since!    Thanks for enlightening us, Michael!   It is so very cool to have a holiday just for drawing birds.   I want to thank Kathy over at Backyard Bird Nerd once again for a tremendously crisp image of a red-winged blackbird for this go-round.   Loved them all, and so hard to choose every time from so many wonderful images, Kathy.   This is my very loose interpretation, lol.

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Busy season is keeping me…..busier than normal this year, and so I didn’t have time to create what I call “postable” art on April 8.   So I made a slapdash attempt today, instead!    I want to thank my friends Nina and Kerfe over at Method Two Madness for helping us keep WP flying this month, and hosting the April annual/monthly DABD celebration!

I hate to post on the fly, but my birds are playing the field today and I have to catch ’em while I can!    I hope to catch up with all of you soon.   (Yes, I will need real wings for that!)   Tweet tweet to all!

Draw a Bird Day February (#41): 100 Face Challenge

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

Happy Draw a Bird Day! Jill of Jill’s Art Journal inspired me to make this when she remarked on my recent whimsical circles painting that it made her think of peacock feathers. Great idea, Jill!   Gave me an excuse to break out those Neocolor II pastels once again.   (Like I need an excuse!)

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I decided to draw this in ink with a very fine Copic 0.1mm pen and then highlight the circular feathers and the eye only in color. Hope you enjoy.

Have a terrific week!  Please visit Kerfe and Nina over at Method Two Madness for more bird art, and a compilation with links to all of the artwork in a few days! Peace.

The Perfect Couple (#37 & #38): 100 Face Challenge

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

This post from Robin at Robin’s Robins really caught my eye a couple of weeks ago, and I finally found a moment to quickly sketch this pair of mallards.  Aren’t they sweet?

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This was done in 2B graphite with a touch of Derwent Graphitint pencil added.   I’m finding I like those Graphitint pencils as much to simply draw with as when they are activated with water.   (They are basically water-soluble graphite pencil with a touch of color in each.)   The tones are muted, so they’re particularly suited to nature and landscape work.    Do check out Robin’s blog.   He takes lots of wonderful bird photos, and I think you’ll really enjoy them!

I don’t have as much time for blogging as busy season cranks up, so if I’m not in here daily posting, I didn’t disappear, and won’t be away for long.   Take care and enjoy your Wednesday.   Quacks and peace to you.

European Eagle Owl in Profile (#34): 100 Face Challenge

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

I came across an image that grabbed me by the throat recently at Paint My Photo. The photographer is Paul Sherman, and his wildlife images will wow you.

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This was a quick “I should really be sleeping” type of sketch, but wouldn’t it be amazing to sharpen a whole bunch of colored pencils and have a go at a detailed painting of this gorgeous photo? Here is a live link to the image. You will have to setup a free account at Paint My Photo to view it. If you’re an artist, it’s worthwhile. The photographers there graciously share their work with the art community, which is a beautiful thing indeed.

Who’s dancing? Time to splatter and splash in big splotches of paint this weekend! Peace.

Backyard Bird Nerd Bluebird (#31): 100 Face Challenge

| Laura (Createarteveryday)

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been struck by Kathy’s photos at Backyard Bird Nerd. She recently posted a series of bluebird photos that begged to be sketched. If you are interested in birds at all, you owe it to yourself to check out her site.

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My Polychromos colored pencils once again helped me out with this little sketch in my Strathmore mixed media art journal. I may just have to make time tonight to sketch the whole bunch! I just love bluebirds, and Kathy captures them from every angle. Sometimes they look so disgruntled, which always makes me laugh. Thanks again, Kathy! You are a huge blessing to us all!

Stay tuned for another famous face tomorrow. Not an American and not a sports figure! Woo hoo! 😀 I just hope I can resurrect it…….we shall see if the portrait gods are with me! Peace.