Chickadee Watercolor

Hi everyone!

I love painting birds which is probably not a surprise to many of you following me on this journey. I sketched a little Chickadee during Inktober and just recently got around to painting one.

It is often hard to know when to stop working on a painting, when to walk away and put down the brush. That happened with this painting. I thought my painting was finished, so I signed it and walked away. I took a few pictures and the following day I realized that it really needed more work.

I had a few decisions to make. I needed to take a little time to think about what this painting needed. I had just stopped too soon, but really that was ok. This was an opportunity to learn and share with you some of the decisions that I made while painting this Chickadee.

Chickadee part 1.

Chickadee – part 1

Looking at this Chickadee from a distance, I realized that all of the colors were muted.

The color bleed around his head looked like a thought bubble. 🙂 Ahhh no no, not what I intended…

It really needed some bright color and some darker darks.

The eye needed more definition, and that thought bubble just had to go.

After adding more color and punching up the dark values, I was much happier. I was able to address all of the issues that bothered me. I think the result looks much better and feels more alive.

Chickadee – part 2

Chickadee  – painted on 7×10 inch Canson Watercolor paper.

Watercolor tips and lessons learned:

• It is sometimes hard to know when to stop so that you don’t overwork a painting. You also need to be careful not to stop too soon as I demonstrated above.
• Take time to look over your work and keep notes. There is always something to learn about what went wrong, what worked well, and what can be improved.

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button. I would love for you to follow me on this creative journey.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, Patty Anne Art. Until next time, enjoy yourself and do something creative!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne