Watercolor Painting ~ A Bluebirds Winter

bdmillergallery (75)Silver Shadowin Silver Bloggers • 2 years ago (edited)

In Time Winter Will Be Felt ..

Her bone chilling winds, shorter days, and touches of white will be heard, seen and felt by us all here in the Northeast. And with the ushering in of these cold changes, I will be on the lookout for inspirational scenes worthy of capturing in memory, photographs, and even paintings. That's the part that excites me the most when anticipating it.

But First Autumn ..

Autumn and all of her warm ciders, vibrant colors, and smoke filled breezes will be the first to arrive. Those hot summer days along with the damp, humid nights, are dwindling allowing for more seasonal temperatures to be ushered in. It will be sad to see another summer full of beach days, barbeques, friends and fun, trail off into the distance and to remain only in our short term memories. But new and different memories await us.

Autumn In The Air Combo.png

And Of Course Molly Too ..

She'll spend a bit more time sitting in the back of the yard, amongst the fallen orange and yellow oak leaves. She doesn't mind them so much unless a strong gusty wind comes along, blowing them in her direction. After all, two or three leaves put together are roughly the size of her entire body. The cooler temps are not only a favorite of mine (not my wife), but also a breath of freshness for Molly too. With it being a bit cooler, she won't have to seek out shade.

4 - At The Pinnacle Of Autumn - IMG_3637.jpg

The Art ..

'A Bluebirds Winter'

With their vibrant colors, bluebirds are extremely easy to pick out among the barren branches of winter. Well, at least the males are. Their head is a rich, deep blue color that runs along the back side as well. The males chest or breast, on the other hand, is the color of rust. I just love it! The female, in contrast, is a little more drab, as can be seen in most bird species. Sorry gals .. The men are just more colorful! hehehe. She is grayish blue with a lighter rust colored breast.

Source of These Three Photos - Pixabay

The Bluebird Was My Inspiration For The Piece ..

I painted this last winter, but didn't get around to sharing it with you until now. I suppose I was really feeling winters chill about the time the inspiration for this one came to me.

All of the leaves had fallen off the branches of our Burning Bush hedges. We had just had a heavy snow fall and I decided to take a walk around the house, to see all of the calm, white beautiful snow. That's when I remember seeing a male Bluebird sitting in the bushes. It was a strong, colorful contrast against the bright white of the new fallen snow.

The perfect Inspiration!

I Was Confident That I Could Paint It

And It helps that I was determined to master painting birds. I use the term "Master" very loosely. I am only an armature hobby artist after all.. to master something would be amazing .. lol.

Like Most Paintings.. I started with a blank sheet of watercolor paper and an idea. I lightly sketched the idea out and let my memory, hand and paint do the rest. Watercolor paint is hard to control (I'm still learning), so sometimes the colors and design get away from me.

This time I kept my cool and kept my hand steady. As you will see below, I tried to capture those rich blues and rust colors, without applying too much to the point of creating a muddy effect. I carefully layered in color until I achieved the look I was going for.

And I eventually ended up here.. At the point of being almost done. I noticed a few things, besides the missing signature. I noticed that My Bluebird looks sleepy and I am missing the SNOW!!!

So I Fixed That!

I touched up the eye and added the snow. I went for the falling snow look. I hope I pulled it off well, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

What Do You Think?

Did I Do The Bluebird Justice? Did I Capture It's Simplicity & Beauty?

This was my first Silver Bloggers Community post. I hope I fit the bill for being a part of this community. I look forward to contributing quality posts that all can enjoy. If I don't live up to the expectations of the community, I am sure Denise will let me know! lol. Hi @dswigle :-) - Thank you for having me.. even though I am not quite 40 yet. (HAHAHAHahahaha)

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“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild.”
― Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

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