Chickadee in the Cedar

 

It was a beautiful afternoon to paint this chickadee in the cedar!  It's been so very cold the last couple of days that 21 degrees feels balmy in the sun!  After tending the chickens, horse and cats, Beau followed me out in the snow for a quick sketch.  Once the sun drops behind a tree, it starts cooling off fast. I hope i get to paint snow for a few more days before it all melts.  Painting number 4772 in 4772 days. 

Chickadee in the Lilac

Chickadee in the Lilac
Pen and Ink on paper, 6x7

Today, I switch gears, and get into the ink!  I love the way pen and ink steps back in time.  This could have been drawn 300 years ago, or just today - it is timeless.  I can look back to the first ink drawings I did in January, and wow - what a difference!  As I have penned, I have learned, and the expression has come easier with each rendering that I do.  I no longer feel a stress about attaining the likeness and feeling I want to portray, they just happen organically, almost without thought, which is how my graphite drawing has always unfolded.  This ink journey has been a sweet one, and one I will pursue forever.  I will never be too old or feeble to pick up a pen and paper!  This drawing is 1306 in 1306 days.

In the Magnolia

In the Magnolia
Oil on panel, 5x7
auction - bid here

I simply LOVE magnolias.  Big, showy blooms, dramatic color in the landscape, and what a fabulous painting subject!  My children bought this magnolia tree for me one year for Mother's Day, and is just starting to bloom.  It is a slow grower, so it is only a little taller than I am, but each year it gets bigger and fuller.  I don't remember ever painting these blooms before.  It seems like it comes into full bloom when plein air painting is kicking into high gear, and I have missed the opportunity the last couple of years.  I will be taking full advantage this year!  I hope to paint some larger pieces while they are still in their glory.  I primed some panels yesterday and the day before, and I mixed up rather a bright color of orange yellow for the wash.  Its a little wild, but I thought I'd just try it out.  It worked out fine, and added a warm undertone to all the colors.  I painted in the lightest lights and then the darkest darks, and blocked in all the rest from there with a large bristle brush.  I did use a smaller flat on the chickadee.  Most of my brushes are flats, until I scrub them into filberts - and I like a stiffer brush to really move that thick paint around. Since I don't use mediums, I truly need a strong brush.  I always use my palette knife on branches, pulling the paint one way or the other to follow the natural shape.  This painting makes number 819 in 819 days.

Chickadee in the Forsythia

Chickadee in the Forsythia
Oil on panel, 6x8
purchase here

My forsythia are out in full force today!  I love the brilliant yellow blooms - and I have transplanted them all over the place - by the barn, three different places in the main yard, and soon to randomly placed in the pasture for the best impact to future landscape paintings!  I have a bucket full of tiger lilies that also need to be placed in new locations before we get that hard freeze on Friday, too.  Perhaps I'll get that done tomorrow.  This painting was so much fun to work on today!  It also has a secret behind it - a snowy landscape with a winding path - never to be seen again!  Some of those colors are popping through here and there to tell their tale.  Pushing the sky towards the violet creates a perfect backdrop for the yellows to shine.  Starting first with cad yellow light, I brush into the sky so that some of those strokes are softened and lost.  I then pushed in a little cad green in a few spots for balance.  Taking my knife, I cut in Gamblin's radiant yellow for highlights that almost pop right off the panel.  The chickadees have been flying back and forth to the feeders, allowing me plenty of time to capture their image with brush and knife.  I wish I had a little of the radiant white to try on this bird, but alas this is a color I have not yet acquired! Painting number 814 in 814 days :)