This is one of those milestone paintings because I sketched it and painted it in public--with a lot of people around. Normally I paint by myself, but I knew I was going to have an hour's wait while my son was at a tennis clinic, so after reading Laure Ferlita's post today on all of her travel watercolor sets, I decided it was time to haul my paints and paper with me and paint. I am a sloppy sketcher, and when I prepare for a watercolor, I normally tone down my heavy-handed sketching, but I didn't have time for that, so I just let my heavy hand go free. The pencil marks show through the paint, but that's okay. It was dark there, and I couldn't see up close very well because I didn't have my little magnifying glasses (uugh...getting old is murder on the eyes. I can't see anything up close anymore). As a result, this little egret's eyes suffered a bit and look outlined. I was going to fix it when I got home but decided to leave it as is because each painting in the challenge is a learning experience. I'm going to take my paints with me now when I know I'm going to have a long wait and keep practicing painting on the fly...in front of people!
When I paint with acrylics I don't lay a sketch down at all. I just grab the paintbrush and start painting, but watercolors aren't that forgiving! I might try painting this guy in acrylic and see what happens. I took the photo I used as a reference for this painting when I was in Florida this spring. The egret was in his breeding plumage and the wind had whipped those beautiful plumes on his head in the air.
4 comments:
clap clap clap! Isn't it a great feeling when you reach a milestone! I remember the first time I sketched in public, I was sure the art police were going to come and arrest me. And when they didn't it opened the door to do it as much as I could.
This is beautiful!!
Yay, Kelly!!!! Doesn't it feel awesome?!! I too have my first piece I did in public and whereas I think it's awful, it has a special place in my heart because it's the first one I'd done in public!
BRAVO, girl!!
I really like how your heron turned out. .... and hope you soon find yourself enjoying sketching in public. Occassionally I find bystanders a nuisance, but more often they are very considerate .... and I've met some wonderful people that way. Some of our best Yellowstone friends were first encountered while I sketched along the roadside.
Well it certainly encourages me to try!I think your heron is great!
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