I have a special Chicken Sketchbook, that I am filling with only paintings of my girls - and our one rooster! This sweet chicken is a Blue Jersey Giant, and a sweetheart with a floppy comb. It lays over a little, giving her extra personality. Once in a while she delays her re-entry to the run by hanging behind the others for those last few bugs in her way in! Painting number 4960 in 4960 days.
There's ALWAYS enough time for sketching chickens - and they certainly like the attention! This Blue Jersey Giant has a comb that has folded over since the beginning. She's sweet and docile, giving me a little peep when she wants another bite of microgreens! I take in a tray each day and feed them from my lap. They love it, I love it, and every one gave me an egg again today! That's twice this week, and yes, it's still winter! Painting number 4816 in 4816 days.
Sweet and sassy Beans is a Black Star beauty, and super fun to paint in my brand new Chicken Art Journal!! I started this in ink, but when I tried to move that ink with water, it did not move at all! Hardly any color deposited from my watercolor brush, so I moved to acrylics. I had limited colors in my travel kit, and found I needed more. They were not staying wet long enough to mix on the very porous paper. This sketchbook is going to be an exploration of mediums for this specific elephant poo paper, lol! Painting number 4814 in 4814 days.
My first drawing in my new Chicken Sketchbook - our newest baby chicks! The sketchbook is a gift from my youngest son, and is made by a Fair Trade Organization called Mr. Ellie Pooh in Sri Lanka. This is the home of one tenth of the world's total 40,000 Asian elephants. These pages are made of recycled paper and elephant poo - no kidding!! Since the paper is so porous, it does not work for watercolor or even gouache. But pen and ink, and acrylic work beautifully, and that's all I've tried so far. I love working in a book that is artisan made, and I plan to fill the pages with the drawings and antics of my hens. Painting number 4811 in 4811 days.
I feel like it's already Easter with these chicks in the house! It's so fun to cuddle and paint them, and they are showing their unique personalities, too! We brought them home last Thursday, and they are already growing. Michael and Tess gave me an artisan made Chicken sketchbook, so I have decided to fill it with chicken sketches and paintings. The paper is made of recycled paper and ELEPHANT POO!! There's a whole backstory to creating these sketchbooks and turning poo into funds to support the elephants and their community. The paper is porous, so I've sketched in ink and colored with acrylic. Watercolor does not move at all in this paper. The cover is a three dimensional rooster head, which is the inspiration for the theme of this journal. I can't wait to try more mediums on these pages as I capture all my girls, one by one. Painting number 4810 in 4810 days.
This little beauty is critiquing my sketches, and giving me some good feedback! Both of these buff brahmas are sweethearts, the smaller is the official Chicken Guard. If Proggy perceives any danger, she sets off an alarm call, and I go out to check. I've got cameras in the run and the henhouse, and motion sensing lights on the front and back corner of the coop. I've seen a big coyote and large raccoon, and found tracks in the snow of the same, but no predator has gotten through our security. I hope one never does! Painting number 4785 in 4785 days.
Sketching Betsy on the community nest - all of our hens lay their eggs in one nest each day!! She's one of our sweetest chickens, one of two calico princesses we have. I don't know if all chickens do this, but ours have fun the very beginning. Only three times has an egg missed the family plot. Two were randomly in the henhouse and one in the middle of the run! Both of the times they were in the henhouse, the nest was fill off 7 eggs already. And if one of the hens is still on that nest, they don't mind at all when I reach underneath them to pull each egg out. I'm so happy we started on this chicken adventure. Painting number 4784 in 4784 days.
I love sketching the hens, and getting their critiques as I work. Carlotta is full of opinions! They are all very social, so I need to give them plenty of attention before I begin. After greens, treats and scratch, they will let me work for a while without jumping on my lap. What did we ever do without these little darlings and the wonderful eggs they give us? Painting number 4755 in 4755 days.
It's fun to sketch this sweet hen while she's at play! Carlotta is the keeper of the egg box in this flock, always rushing up to the egg box when I go to gather eggs. She waits for my praise and clucks her thoughts to me as I collect each one. She has even alerted me to an egg in the corner that had been pushed out of the nest! She's very sweet and loves the attention she's gets each day. I never knew how unique and different each hen's personality is before raising them. What fun we're all having with these sweethearts! Painting number 4751 in 4751 days.
With pen and ink I capture Santa on his rounds. Diamine's Nostalgia is a lovely warm shade from Day 10 of their Inkvent Calendar. I've penned one of our chickens in, as she follows Santa down the path. The presents are all set under the tree, stockings are hung, as I listen to the sweet notes of Michael strumming on his guitar. It's so nice having him home for Christmas Eve. I've missed this boy's guitar playing before bed each night. Painting number 4740 in 4740 days.
Blush is such a lovely ink to render Santa cuddling our hen, Beans! Santa likes his chicken cuddling time as much as we do! This ink took a lot of coats to get this dark, and is rather light on the first layer. Beans is a Black Star chicken, with a sparky, sweet personality. Smart and quick to the treats, she's always aware of where the goodies are. She has lovely red orange feathering from head and neck that turns a shiny black with blues and greens in the light. I'll need to paint her in oils one day, too do her coloring justice. Painting number 4735 in 4735 days.
What a lovely green ink I opened behind door nine 9 - Bittersweet! Crisp and clean, I've captured Santa deep in conversion with one of my girls! I've never painted Santa in green ink before, but I think I like it! There does not seem to be much chroma variance in this ink, but the color is so fresh. I don't understand the name, though. In my neck of the woods, bittersweet is a burnt orange color. The foliage is not even close to this color, either, lol. Painting number 4730 in 4730 days.
Behind door number four of the Diamine Inkvent Calendar is this lovely warm brown ink called Smokey Tobacco. If gives a vintage glow to this Santa drawing, as he cuddles Meringue, one of our Calico Princesses. Once quite yellow, she has gotten lighter as she matures, nearly white on her undercarriage and tail! I've used a matching glass dip pen, and I'm working on an unknown handmade paper. I often tear up small pieces into miniature ATC size. This painting is number 4727 in 4727 days.
This sweet Blue Jersey Giant loves to hang out with me in the run as I sketch, and leaves us giant eggs as a "thank you"! Phinny has a calmer nature than her sister Carlotta, hanging back and waiting for treats rather than charging right up to me. The grandkids named our chickens - and we didn't make it clear that they were all girls, so we have a few funny names, lol! I love her darker head and neck feathering, and her floppy comb is adorable! I never dreamed I'd become so attached to these feathered friends, and here I am, playing with them daily! I guess I'll never grow up! Painting number 4724 in 4724 days.
Day 3 ink in the Inkvent Calendar is Carousel - a vivid red pigment ink! I LOVE the color - but it was SO HARD to wash off of my glass dip pen!! It's my first experience with such an ink! A gorgeous red like this called for a Santa sketch - so I have drawn him with sweet Betsy, who is one of the first gens to jump on my lap! I love the vivid color, but I prefer an ink that moves with water. I had to actually scrub and use a brush to get the red ink off of that glass dip pen! That's crazy! Painting number 4722 in 4722 days.
As I painted trim on the coop today, I took a sketch break to paint a miniature chick and pumpkin! It was the perfect day to be working outside, so I took full advantage! I got a coat of pink paint on the windows and some of the door trim, as well as some other coop chores. The girls cooed and came close to me through the windows from their upper roost bar, and Phinny even sat on her nest and laid an egg - singing her egg song as I painted the henhouse doorway, watching the magic. I hope to get all the painting done during these beautiful, warm days - and more painting, too! Painting number 4689 in 4689 days.
