A Bird of Different Sort: Watercolor Rooster

This is an older painting from several months ago that was never posted. He's actually the first bird of the sort that I've been doing lately. I was so pleased with him; it gave me the push to try the other birds.

He's a little larger than 5 x 7 and painted only with Quinacridone Gold, Indigo, and Quinacridone Red. The green in the tail is from the Quin. Gold and Indigo mixed - I love that color every time it appears!

His face is sharpened with a touch of Prismacolor colored pencil that looks like Tuscan Red and Goldenrod. I didn't write them down and don't remember now which ones they were.

I hope you like him - he was a first of a kind!

Western Red Tailed Hawk Drawing - Colored Pencil on Dark Paper

I enjoyed drawing the hawk in the earlier post so much, I thought I'd try again. Here's a 5 x 7 Western Red Tailed Hawk drawn on Mi Tientes paper with Prismacolor pencils. Again I used a minimal palette of Indigo Blue, Dark Umber, Light Umber, Goldenrod, White and a touch of Black. I don't know the color name of the paper, but it is very dark and cool toned.

In hindsight, I would have done this differently. This color is incredibly hard to see to draw! My initial sketch lines - which are usually very light as is my habit - were nearly invisible. Also, the colors I chose harmonize well with the subject and the paper, but seem to lack sparkle.

There's some of this paper left and next time, I'll try a white bird for that lift it seems to need. Either way, I'm still pleased with how the hawk turned out, especially the expression, and it was really fun to do.

I'm still experimenting with watercolor toned grounds, but it looks like an art supply order for more colored paper is in the making!

Red Tailed Hawk Drawing

I haven't done enough drawing lately and was feeling the lack. So, here's a Red Tailed Hawk on gray paper. I think it's Canson but it was in a stack of miscellaneous paper with no marks or labels so that's a guess. This hawk is actually a warm toned bird in shades of brown, golds and cremes so my choice of cool colored pencils makes it look much starker.

I sketched the bird lightly with a fine point pencil, then used four Prismacolor colored pencils for the body and beak: Black, White, Indigo and Warm Gray 50%. Two more colors were added to enhance the eyes: Light Umber and Goldenrod.

This was a relatively fast study and, for what it's worth, fast for me means around 30 to 45 minutes. Overall, I'm pleased with it but, as usual, there's room for improvement.

Working with the pencils on the colored paper did start me thinking about using watercolor to tone and drawing on that. SO, I've got a couple of those lined up to experiment with. Let's see where that goes!

On a painting note, a new cardinal is available at Etsy. I think he looks festive, so he's a Christmas Cardinal with the name "Waiting."

"Waiting"

Christmas Cardinal

5 x 7 Original Watercolor Painting

Let's Knit! Contest Giveaway

Imagine my surprise yesterday when Google found me over at the Junk Creation blog where you can enter to win a Christmas for Crafters gift package.

The prize package includes a copy of "Let's Knit!", as well as "Easy Birthstone Jewelry", a 2009 Beadstyle Calendar and the latest issues of Beadstyle, Art Jewelry and Bead and Button magazines.

It's simple to enter and the contest is open to everyone including international readers. Just go to Junk Creation and leave a comment. Be sure to tell Peggy about your Christmas craft projects as well.

If you win, let me know and I'll send you an autographed book plate for your copy of "Let's Knit!". Good luck!