It's all gone to the birds (seagulls)

I've been invaded by seagulls!!!  Living near the ocean, it's hard not to see seagulls every day.  Usually I try to pay them as little mind as possible.  For some strange reason, I got a hankering for painting them.  Here is what I came up with.  One I did on my lunch hour, and one I did in the studio.

There are bits of both that I really like, and bits on both that I wish I could do over again.   I'll not go into what things are which, but let you all take a guess at it.

On both of these, I started drawing from the head, and, as it turned out, should have either made the head smaller or started higher up on the page.  The bird kind of ran off the bottom of the paper. For me its not a big deal since I don't like painting feet anyway, but it would have made a bit nicer picture if the bird was planted on something.

As in the past, I did make a video of myself painting this seagull.  If you have an interest, please check out the video below.

Thanks for the quick read, and I hope you enjoy the paintings.

Grumpy Cat

So, I've been trying to get better at painting animals.  I love cats, so it made sense that I would paint a few of them.  I've tried to paint animals in the past and have always been disappointed in how I painted fur.  At that time I was trying hard to make photorealistic paintings.   It was all ok, but thats not really how I want to paint.  I want to give the impression of a thing.  When you look at one of my paintings I want you to get the emotion and feeling that I put into it out of it.  If the painting looks exactly like the object it was taken, great, if it doesn't so be it.

So, here I am painting this cat, and wanting to convey to you a bit of grumpiness from this cat without explicitly painting a perfect cat.  I think you get a bit of that from this cat.

Want to see how I painted it?  Check out the video below.  Want me to paint something for you?  Curios how someone would paint something.  I'd love to take a crack at whatever you can dream up.  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email. Thanks for the quick read, and enjoy the video.

Great Blue Heron

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.

Sea Gull

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.

Oriole

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.

Thank you.

Betta Fish

   

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.

Christmas Card - Decorative Glass Balls

So, I have started painting my Christmas or Holiday cards for this year already.  I want to start early.  Last year I got a little behind, and it was hard trying to catch up.  So here is the first one that I am posting.  It is of course some hanging ornaments.

You might wonder how I got the balls so perfectly round.  Well, let me tell you.  Electrical Tape.  It is the perfect size for balls on a 5 x 7 card.

So, I figure I've got about 20 cards to paint.  It seems like a lot, but not a lot.  Between work, family and friends, that could easily be many many more.  I've limited the number to just those that have made the biggest impact in my life over the previous year.

The cards? Well, last year, i bought packs of them at the local hardware store.  This year.... Amazon.  I got a pack of 100 for 30 bucks.  Thats pretty good.  I'm pretty sure that means I get them for 30 cents a piece.

I think this one looks pretty good, and its pretty easy to paint.  If you have an interest in seeing how it did it,  you can watch the video below.

Thank you.

Painting Negative Spaces with Hydrangea

I did a similar painting several months back.  It just kind of happened organically.  I didn't purposely go into thinking I would paint all the negative space around an object, but it kind of worked that way.  In this painting, I specifically set about trying to paint only the negative spaces.  I do with I had mixed in maybe a little purple or magenta with all the blue but I came out pretty neat.

Also, I think, that if I do this again, or maybe I'll go back and do it on this painting, that I'll incorporate some veins into the leaves.  I did put the button in the middle of these flowers, but that was all.  Perhaps a bit of veining will really bring this painting to the next level and give the leaves a little more texture and depth.

Well, regardless of whether I go back and do more or not, I had a great time painting this one.  I hope you enjoy the painting, and if you would like to watch it, I do have a video of how I did it.

 

Old Blue Chevy Truck (HOPE Truck)

This is my latest painting.  It is the HOPE truck from Dripping Springs, Texas.  A friend of mine took the picture and it was too much for me not to paint it.   I had a great time with this.  I love all the rust and faded colors.

Painting the shadow and darkness at the top of the painting (under the eaves and the tree shadow behind the building) was completely terrifying to paint.  I had what I thought was a good painting, but needing the shadow and I had to put it on.  the color is so dark, I was afraid I would totally mess it up.

Luckily, I like the way it turned out.

I was told that maybe i should have left the windows jus ta bit lighter, and darkened the ground below the truck.  Hmmm.  Something to think about.

I love this painting.  It is hanging proudly in my office.  I'm so juiced at the way this one turned out, I can't wait to paint my next one.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to see how I did it, I do have a video.  Thanks for the quick read.  Hope you love the truck as much as I do.

VW Street Parking

Here is a picture of a VW parked on the street.  Could be anywhere, but in my mind its somewhere like Philadelphia.  Or maybe some other big city in the eastern US.
The car is just sitting on the side of the street begging to be painted.

Oh, like many of my paintings from the past few months, this one comes with a video.  If you have an interest and wanna see it, click the link below.

Thank you.

Catching Up

I haven't forgotten about all you avid Dabfly Arts readers.  I have been busy.  In the past week, I've worked overtime, held a garage sale, been across town about 14, flown to the moon and visited the rings of Saturn.  Let's just say I've been a bit busy.  Well, no matter, I'm back and putting up the pictures I should have been putting up all along.

The first painting is of course some apples still on a tree.  They must be getting ready to pick they are slowly turning red.  The second a Scrub Jay which we have in the western states.    They are actually really nice birds, not like those nasty Blue Jays.  Finally a simple painting of a Kingfisher.  Each of these now comes with a video showing how I made it. (Picture on left, video on right)  Take a look to see how I do it.  Thanks for the view.

Got My Scanner Back

Today, I got a scanner back and hooked up to my computer.  If you haven't noticed, this year my paintings look like they have had a bit of grey tint to them.  My camera just doesn't take the greatest pictures.  I'd been trying my best with the equipment I had.  Now, however, I've got my scanner back and things are looking better.  

Here are a couple of thank you cards that I have painted.  They are, of course, small.  In fact you could say they are the size of a thank you card.   Enjoy.

King Me

Last week I was a little frustrated with my painting and a friend of mine suggested I look at things a bit differently and use different colors or different paints to paint my pictures.  Well, I've got some old paints that were made in West Germany.  I don't know what West Germans knew about paint or anything.  I do know that the colors in this set are kind of different and mostly opaque.  When I say they are kind of different, what I mean is that 7 different blues, none of which match with my existing french ultramarine, pthalo blue, cerulean blue deep or cerulean blue.  It's the same thing with the 6 greens, 7 reds and 5 yellows.  

I had used this set for about a week when I first started painting  but couldn't get used to the colors.  They are just weird.  But for this painting I mixed and mixed and came out with colors that I think are pretty good.  In fact, I made a deal with myself.  If Im gonna paint with a wide swath of colors, I can't mix a big pool of one color and keep dipping it in.  I have to make a small pool of it, and add too it or change it each time I dip into it.  You can see in the body of the bird there are reds oranges and yellows all throughout.  And the blue of the bird is at least 4 different shades throughout.  

The log the bird is sitting on started as a really pale grey, like it was really bleached out.  then it got a bit darker grey, blue, yellow, green and finally it is what it is.  I don't think I'm done with this one, you might see hime make a return on this sit in a finalized form, but for now, I'm back and having fun with some new paints.  Trying to mix any kind of a normal color with these crazy paints is fun in itself.  Thanks for the nudge Kelly Murphy.

Pencils or Paint

Ok, so while my daughter was painting this weekend, and I was sitting next to her pondering what I was going to paint, I decided to pull out the watercolor pencils.

We haven't had much rain in the past year, and we have a slight gopher problem.  As a result, I have one little tree that has been stunted and, I think had its roots eaten away.  The tree is dead or dying, but I haven't gotten up the gumption to remove it just yet.  Well, this little tree was the subject of my attention.

I did it first with watercolor pencil, then a second time with watercolor paint.  Each has its own merits.  I think I like the watercolor paint best, but I do like the detail I can put into it with the pencils.

It took all of about 10 minutes to set up, paint (draw) and finish these.  In that time, my daughter had painted two paintings and was over it.  This is all I could muster.  I'm gonna have to step up the pace to keep up with her.

More Sketching

Another lunchtime sketching session today!  We all walked across campus to the market and sat at picnic tables.  I didn't have the best view, so i decided to paint what was right in front of me, literally.

Ed was busily painting the CAMPUS MARKET sign above the doorway while I was painting him.  When we were done and comparing paintings, we all had a good chuckle over my painting of Ed.

Yes, I know that the painting is completely bisected by the umbrella pole, that is kind of the point.  We are trying to paint exactly what we see.  I could have looked around the pole to paint Ed, but for what we were doing this is much more accurate, fun and funny.

I'm having just a bit of trouble with this paint kit.  I feel like the paint is either too strong or too weak, and I can't quite get it right.  The background in this painting should have been weaker to push it back further, and the cement table should have been a bit darker to bring it forward.  Well, live and learn.  It was still fun.

What's Your Color

I love the way watercolors look when they are applied loose and fast.  The good folks over at urban sketchers (urbansketchers.org) do a great job of it.  In many ways I would like to do what they do.  For the most part they take simple images and add a bit of color.  They don't necessarily try to recreate an image with photo realistic accuracy.  The opposite is true in fact.  They try to paint quickly and give the impression of what they are painting, and let the viewers mind fill in most of what it needs.

This is the first painting I have  completed, that I think resembles ones that you will find on their site.  Hope you enjoy it.  Thank you.