My daughter's best friend is going through a mermaid phase right now and asked if I would paint one for her. I, of course, said I would. I first had to find an image, then draw it out of course. What followed is this painting of a mermaid. It's not the best painting of a mermaid, but I think its a really good first try.
My favorite part of this painting is the ribs on the tail. I think they turned out really well. The next painting will probably have some scales, or some such. And I'm always looking to work on hair.
I got about half way through this painting and then thought I needed to have her sit on something, so the rock is somewhat improvised, but I think it mostly works.
I've also made a video to go along with this. As if you hadn't seen that coming.
Back again with another bird painting. This one is a great blue heron. These prehistoric birds are all over the place where I live, and I hope you have them where you live too. Here they stalk the tide pools and seashore looking for small fish to eat. I've even seen them in the fields and on the golf course looking for mice or moles. A big one can stand in excess of 4 feet tall. I don't know what its wingspan is, but its big. They will stand motionless for quite a while waiting for a tasty morsel to come into range. As soon as it does,... Whammo! Thats is. Feeding time.
I've got a nice heron her for you to view. He is in a classic standing stance. Just surveying his surroundings, waiting, biding his time. I've used a healthy dose of cerulean blue in this painting. Used it both in the bird and on the background. The bird itself is tempered with a little mix of my own grey too.
For those of you interested in seeing how I painted it, you can view the action below. Even if you don't give a view to the video, thanks for taking the time to read a bit about this bird. Enjoy the video.
A friend of mine recently moved to Texas. I asked her what the state bird was, and she tole me it was a mocking bird (never looked it up to verify, but I believe her). I felt a wave of bird painting coming on and thought it might be fun to paint. Here is what I came up with.
Its a classic bird shape. Maybe the tail is a little longer than some, but for the most part it follows suit for songbirds in North America.
I looked through a number of pictures of mocking birds before settling on drawing this one. Most of the mocking birds are a light grey to a brown in color. A few, however, had a slight blue tint to them. I don't know if they were juveniles, or if at a certain time of year the feathers look a bit different or what. No matter, I chose to paint mine with a blue-ish tint. I made the eye extra dark. I want the viewer to notice it right away, and looking back at the painting, I think I made the right choice.
Like so many of my painting recently, it is accompanied by a video. So if you want to see how I painted it, check out the video below. Thanks for the quick read. Drop me a line and let me know if you like it or not, or if you'd like to see me paint something specifis.
Alas, that ever present bird has made a comeback on Dabfly Arts. Living by the water, I see them every day. Some days they look like they are having fun floating on gentle ocean breezes, others they look like they are hating life trying to stay warm in a cold winter wind. This guy falls into the former category. He is definitely loving life. Nice warm climate, a nice dock to stand on.
Birds are fun to paint. I don't know why I like them so much. I guess its because each one has its own personality. Every bird I paint gets its own story. This one is definitely looking at something on the dock. Maybe a tasty bit of food has blown onto the wood, he has just seen it, and it about to go over and have a snack.
Whatever his real story, he was a blast to paint. I hope you enjoy it. If you want to see how I did it, I have, as has become my custom, made a video of it. You can see it below. Thanks for the read, and the view if you have the inclination.
I must be on some kind of bird painting kick. Here, I've painted an Oriole. He is sitting on what appears to be a broken branch.
This bird was really fun to paint. The vibrant orange color is made from a couple of different reds, and a couple of different yellows. I did use a pre-mixed grey (payne's grey) but I augmented it myself. I don't usually use the grey right out of the tube. It's mot a bad color, just a little bit flat.
I've given the bird just a few indications of feathers. Just enough to enhance the shape of the bird.
He sits on a stick that has obviously seen better days. Its got some pitting and dents in it.
The background was originally going to be a bit more mottled, but I think I forgot to mix another color into it. As it is, the colors are phthalo blue and ultramarine blue. The green parts are windsor green and viridian. The blue behind the orange really makes this bird pop off the page.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the painting and the quick read. If you want to see how I painted it, check out the following video.
So, I went fishing and didn't catch anything. As a consolation, I painted this fish. Ok, thats not actually how the story goes. I did go fishing. I didn't catch anything. I did have fun fishing with my children. That fishing trip had nothing to do with this painting.
I've been meaning to paint a betta for quite some time. My friends over at Doodlewash painted one about the time I was getting started. I didn't want to post mine close to the time that that one was painted. So I waited. Finally, I was kicking around the studio the other day when I came across the reference photo for this. Finally, I had to paint it. I will admit that the background needs a bit of work. I wanted a really mottled background that had a lot of interest. What I ended up with it s a background that is rather plain. I will admit that I am a bit disappointed with it. But no mind. It is what it is. I enjoyed the experience painting it. You can too by viewing the video below.
Thanks for the view. Hope you enjoy.
If you want to see the video in less than half the time, there is a speed painting of it too.
Mmmmm, just like grandma use to make. Delicious blueberry muffins. These happen to be sitting on the table, but you can't have them they are mine.
I started out to paint something just a little different. You see lot of painting of trees, and flower, and pets and people, but how many do you see of muffins? I know, I know, your gonna say its just a still life like a bowl of fruit, or something, but is it really? I really like painting things that not everyone else paints. From the moment I saw this picture, I knew I was going to paint it. I didn't really know how I was going to do it, but I knew I was going to.
What I did was look at what color the muffin tops were, and develop my color palette from there. The tops were gold, and brown and a really warm earthy yellow. I decided on transparent orange oxide, yellow ochre, raw umber and van dyke brown. The brown crusty parts are really just orange oxide. and the in between parts are mostly yellow ochre. Their is an under layer of raw umber and yellow ochre. The muffin cup is mostly raw umber. I needed to make it similar to the top, but different enough that you could tell it was paper. I tied it all together with a light yellow background and a few blueberries in the foreground.
If you want a more detailed description, you can watch the video below. Thanks for taking the time to view it, I hope you like it, I had a blast painting it.
