Great Blue Heron watercolor

This week I worked on painting a Great Blue Heron. I decided to work in my Stillman & Birn mixed media sketchbook that I recently received as a gift. It was a great choice, the quality of the paper in this sketchbook is excellent. I can see more of these sketchbooks in my future. 🙂

My initial sketch is below.  Nice big shapes first, and then more detail with ink. Early on, it is important to get the position and shape of the eye correct. Then it is just a matter of working out from there with more detail.

Great Blue Heron sketch

Below is the second phase after adding watercolor. This is when it really starts to come alive.

Daniel Smith watercolors:
Payne’s Gray, Phthalo Blue, Quinacridone Rose, Yellow Ochre, and Hansa Yellow

Great Blue Heron – part 1

I debated whether to add a background color or not. After looking at a photo of my painting, I realized that I needed to punch up some of the colors. I also thought that a background would give this painting more interest.

It was a good choice to add more color, it made a big difference!

Great Blue Heron

Background colors:  Permanent Green, Green Gold, and Phthalo Blue

For the background I used a mix of Permanent Green and Green Gold. I splashed some Phthalo Blue and Permanent Green on the wet background by tapping on the handle of a brush loaded with paint. I like how the little drops of paint vary in size and spread out and in different shapes depending on how wet the paint is where they land.

I hope I have inspired you to create some art and do something fun. Thanks for stopping by and following along.  Have a great week.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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Quiet Thursday – Pink Cosmos

Pink Cosmos watercolor

Pink Cosmos watercolor painted on 9×12 inch Arches watercolor paper.

Dreaming about warmer weather and sending you a little sunshine today with some cheerful pink flowers.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and do something fun.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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Fox watercolor and ink

I’ve been working on sketching and painting a fox. It has been on my list for a while and I had a little time over the holidays to give it a try. I really love wildlife art and enjoy combining watercolor and ink in my artwork.

I started off with a few pencil sketches before diving in with watercolor and ink.

Fox watercolor and ink sketch

painted on 9×12 inch Canson Mix Media paper

Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton watercolor paints
Black Micron pen .03

After lightly sketching the fox with a pencil, I added more definition with a Micron pen. I like using the pen to make fun squiggles and random loose lines for the fur. When making the the ink squiggles and lines, I had to keep in mind that the length of the hair is shorter on the face and longer on the neck and body of the fox. I used a pen with a small tip so that the ink markings would not be too harsh and take over the painting. The final step was adding watercolor. That is the most exciting part, when things start to come to life. 🙂

Watercolor tips:

• Make sure the eyes are well defined and that the colors are dark enough. The eyes really need to pop to give life to your painting.
• Set goals for your art and keep working at it.

I started painting 3 years ago and fell in love with watercolor. I have been taking classes, reading books, and following many talented artists online. The key has really been to paint a lot.  About 2.5 years ago I started trying to paint a little every day or every few days (as it goes with a busy life and work schedule). The more that you paint, the more you will learn.

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 on the right. I would love for you to follow me on this creative journey.

Until next time, enjoy yourself and do something fun! 🙂

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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Thursday Blues – Penguin Dance

Penguin Dance

Penguin Dance watercolor painted on 7×10 inch Canson watercolor paper.

Another blue post for you…Blue is my favorite color. 🙂

I hope you are enjoying my quiet Thursday posts. You can see more of my work on Instagram and PattyAnneArt.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Birdie Roundup – 2017

As we close out 2017, I thought it would be fun to look back at a few of my favorite birdies from this year.

A few paintings and photos from 2017…

 

Penguin Buddies – Ink and Watercolor

A couple of joyful penguins,

Duck – inktober

 

Ducks on the pond

an afternoon swim,

Goose watercolor with background

a happy goose,

Sweet Bird watercolor

a sweet little birdie,

Birdies at the beach

and a lovely day at the beach with these beauties.

Painting and sharing with you this year has been such a joy. I will continue on this watercolor journey and will probably paint a few more birds next year as well. 🙂

If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you join me on this creative journey.

I hope my art continues to improve in 2018 and that I can inspire you in some way to be creative and do what you love.

Wishing you a very happy and creative new year!

Patty Anne

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Quiet Thursday – Buck Silhouette

Buck Silhouette watercolor

Buck Silhouette watercolor painted on 6 x 9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper.

Watercolor tip:
Kosher salt was sprinkled on damp paint to create some interesting texture. After the paint completely dried, the salt was dusted off the paper.

I hope you are enjoying my quiet Thursday posts. You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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

 

 

Painting a Snowman

I haven’t played in the snow or made a snowman in a very long time, but I thought it would be fun to paint one. We haven’t had much snow yet this season where I live. I sure hope we have a little on the ground by Christmas morning.

Now for painting snow… I started to wonder what color would be best to use. My first thought was that a light purple or gray would be nice. After watching this tutorial on how to paint a holiday snowman card, Watercolor Snowman Card Tutorial, I decided to try using different shades of blue for the snow as Michael did in the video.

Below are a few of the happy snowmen that I painted, just simple and fun!

Snowman 1

After sketching the snowman, I painted a few very light washes of Cobalt Teal on the snowball sections. I made sure to leave some white areas and did not worry about uneven brush strokes or getting it perfect. It is important to let each wash dry before adding the next wash. I like seeing the brush strokes since it gives the snow a bit of nice texture.

Then I continued with a few additional washes of Phthalo Blue and Ultramarine Blue for the darker areas around and below him.

 

Snowman 2

I had a some fun dressing this guy up adding a hat, scarf, and some cute buttons. Snowman 2 is my favorite of this group. I think I’m going to print some cards with one. 🙂

 

Snowman and jr

With this third painting, I added a baby snowman. He looks like he is sitting down so I gave him some cute little boots.

Watercolor Tips

• Be sure to include a variety of darks and lights in your watercolor paintings. It will create more interest and help them come to life.
• Another great place to find inspiration is in children’s books. You will find that many have beautiful watercolor and ink illustrations.

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 to have you follow me on this creative journey.

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

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Poinsettia Watercolor and Ink

Hi everyone! I’ve been having fun sketching and painting Poinsettias. The first few that I painted we rather fussy and boring. Then I decided to watch a few videos online for inspiration and tips.  I found this Jennifer Branch tutorial online, Poinsettia Christmas Card Painting. It was very easy and a lot of fun. I liked her loose style and all of the great tips that she shared. Below are a few of my paintings after watching the watercolor tutorial.

I didn’t have the Perylene Maroon that Jennifer used for the rich dark color, so I mixed up some Daniel Smith Deep Scarlet with a little Quinacridone Rose and a very small amount of Ultramarine Blue. I think that mix worked well for my dark Maroon color.

Poinsettia 1 watercolor

 

Below is another attempt with the same loose style.

Poinsettia 2 watercolor

This second painting I don’t like as much as the first one. I think the green leaves are brighter and more fun in the first painting and the flower has more depth and contrast. I suspect I didn’t use enough Ultramarine Blue to punch up the center of the second flower.

 

Poinsettia Ink Sketch

I’m still having fun with ink sketching so I worked on a Poinsettia sketch as well. I used my Platinum desk pen with fine nib and a .01 Micron pen. I had to reload the ink cartridge in the desk pen about two thirds of the way through this sketch. I was a little nervous thinking I was going to make a big mess but it was pretty easy to change (and no mess, yay!). I’m not sure why, but it took a little while before the ink started to flow nicely in the pen again. I suppose the ink in the cartridge just needed to loosen up a bit.

Tips:

• Keep a notepad to list things you might like to sketch and paint. There have been times when I was ready to work on my art but not sure what I wanted to paint. What has really been helpful for me is to keep an Art Inspiration list. I work full time and can’t afford to waste any of my precious art time searching for inspiration.
• I also keep a little note on my desk as a reminder to relax and loosen up. It simply says, quiet mind, drop shoulders, relax jaw, and try to smooth out your thoughts. This note helps me de-stress and relax.

Do you keep little notes of inspiration or reminders on your desk or work area? If so, I would love to know what works for you.

Thank you for stopping by. 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 on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, Patty Anne Art. Until next time, have a great week and do something fun!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

 

 

Hedgehog in Watercolor and Ink

I’m back to working on animals and decided to try sketching and painting a little Hedgehog. I started off with a few pencil sketches to warm up and then moved on to ink.

Hedgehog sketch in ink

This little hedgehog was sketched in my Canson 7×10 inch Mix Media sketchbook. I used Micron pens sizes .01, 03, and .04. I tried to use some expressive squiggles on his back. After this ink sketch I moved on to the colorful watercolor below.

Hedgehog watercolor

My Hedgehog was painted on 9×12 inch Saunders watercolor paper. Instead of going with a brown and black palette for this little guy, I decided to use a variety of different colors. For the hair on his back, I lightly dampened a small area and then splashed on different colors. I dragged my small round brush (#2) sideways and then pulled upward to create most of the bushy hair on his back. I think that these playful brush strokes gave the hair some nice movement.

Hedgehog 2 watercolor

This last Hedgehog was painted in my Canson 7×10 inch watercolor sketchbook. A little different view for this painting.  He looks like he is on the move!

Watercolor Tips:

• The very dark color directly underneath each hedgehog is important because it helps to ground them and it also adds a nice contrast to their lighter under fur.
• Change your rinse water when it starts to look cloudy, otherwise your pretty colors will start to look a bit muddy on your paper.
• I find that I most often use my Round brushes sizes: 10,6, and 2. I have many other brushes to choose from but these brushes seem to be my go to brushes. They are very versatile and work well for painting most things.

What is your favorite watercolor brush?  Which brush do you use most often?

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 on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this creative journey.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Until next time, I hope you have a great week and do something fun!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne