Eastern Bluebird acrylic painting

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The second of the six-day blue art challenge, which I narrowed down to blue-feathered birds painted in acrylic, is this male Eastern Bluebird. He sits atop a simple wooden birdhouse, and the yellow-green background complements his rusty red-orange breast as the midmorning sun warms his blue back. The color scheme in this painting may be simple, but it is effective in that the blue and orange are opposite on the color wheel, while green harmonizes with both.

Eastern Bluebird, acrylic painting on paper of a male bluebird sitting atop a wood birdhouse
Eastern Bluebird, 12 x 9 inch acrylic on paper, original available for $100 USD

Thoughts on the acrylic paint

I am still getting accustomed to acrylic paint’s characteristics, especially how quickly it dries – not only compared to oils, but it seems to me that it dries even faster than watercolor. There is also more of a color shift as it dries compared to my watercolor paints. For this series, I am using a line of craft paints my husband has used for more than a decade, so I can ask him about any issues I have. (The brand is by Plaid, maker of Mod Podge, and goes under the names Apple Barrel and Folk Art and is available at Wal-Mart here in the US.) I feel like I am doing a bit better with it, which is enough encouragement to continue with this new-to-me medium.

Thoughts on the drawing and painting process

Looking at this painting after some time has passed, I could probably have done a better job on my initial sketch, particularly where the bird’s feet rest on the birdhouse. I also think I made the head a little too small to fit the rest of the bluebird’s body, but it is a subtle thing that I didn’t notice until the painting was completely dry. I do love the natural color scheme of this bird species – especially the more brightly-colored males – and hope to find another good photo reference to do another in the future.

Purchase links for Eastern Bluebird

Prints are at my Pixels store, and assorted accessories at RedBubble for those who want. The original acrylic painting on primed paper is now listed at my gallery at Daily Paintworks, and is still available for $100 USD plus shipping.

Meanwhile, I have started painting blue-feathered bird number three …

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Blue-Feathered Bird Series: Hyacinth Macaw

Published on by kmgunnart6 Comments

I have started another art challenge on one of the art forums I read, and this one is six artworks in six days with the theme of “blue.” I have narrowed that down for myself to be blue-feathered birds (I like doing a theme within the theme, like my flamingoes series), and have found a variety of reference photos to work from with the first being the bluest of blue-feathered birds I have ever seen, the hyacinth macaw. I’ve actually been looking forward to painting this bird,, especially this happy youngster who posed so nicely.

hyacinth macaw, acrylic painting in my blue-feathered bird series
Hyacinth Macaw, 14 x 11 inch acrylic on paper, $140 USD original available

I have seen these birds in person before at zoos, and they really are that brilliant a shade of blue. In the sunlight, they are a close match to my tubes of ultramarine blue. I did this in acrylic paint, having succumbed to an impulse buy at WalMart on Friday and coming home with a 12 bottle set of acrylic paints marketed to the crafters, but my husband likes to use on his little figurines that he paints. I think I like them as well. This is only my second acrylic painting I’ve done myself (excluding one my husband helped me with – I’ll need to blog that one as well!) and I am pleased with it.

Along with the original being available through Daily PaintWorks, I have prints at my Pixels store and the usual swag at Redbubble. My favorite bit of swag at RedBubble is the analog clock, with my happy little hyacinth macaw acrylic painting as the clock face.

Hyacinth Macaw as a clock face – available at RedBubble

I intend to post up my challenge series the morning after I complete a painting, since I feel as though I write easier in the late morning. Until tomorrow!

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Christmas Candle still life drawing

Published on by kmgunnart9 Comments

I did another Christmas card artwork sooner rather than later, and yes this is related to another art challenge. The theme was not announced until the evening prior, and the prompt was, “after dark.” I have actually intended to do this holiday-themed still life for a while now, and just hadn’t sat down and done more than just a rough sketch and obtain a good reference photo. This turned out to be the perfect excuse to just do it. What I’ve had in mind is a Christmas-themed still life arrangement with a lighted candle, and for the level of detail I wanted to capture, colored pencils are best. I may not use them nearly as much as my other media, but when I do it is for something specific and detailed.

Christmas Candle still life drawing in only white on black paper for a minimalist look
Christmas Candle, white on black first stage 12 x 9 inch –

I stopped long enough to scan the image in white-on-black, just in case I was still not satisfied with the coloring-in by bedtime. Surprisingly, several of my fellow artists and challenge participants like this better than the final color version. Comments received so far include “surprising,” “minimalist,” and just plain “cool.” I do not have an original for this version for obvious reasons, but I could probably make one if requested. I only have this version up at my Pixels site for prints and even cards.

Adding color to the drawing

I have to confess, I expected the coloring-in phase to be more of a battle than it was. I often say, “Sometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug,” and yesterday went smooth enough to qualify as being the windshield. The black paper has a laid texture to it, and is made for charcoal and soft pastel, so it didn’t take the colored pencil as fully as smooth paper would, but I like the effect and will be using it again. If you would like to own the original, you may purchase through Daily Paintworks here.

Colored pencil on black paper, Christmas Candle still life with pine cones and colored lights
Christmas Candle, colored pencil still life on black paper, 12 x 9 inches, $100 USD

I do love how the pinecones turned out! Y’all will likely never see my first attempt at drawing a pinecone, which is probably for the best. The colors pop against the black background so nicely. Finally, the contrast between the still life objects in focus and the colored lights being completely out-of-focus in the background came out just as I had hoped. Prints and cards are at the Pixels store, while apparel and accessories are at RedBubble.

So, time to ask your input: which version do you like better, and why? Should I do up a new white-on-black version? I suppose I ought to joke, “Asking for a friend.”

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Christmas Card Art, Part One: ornaments in watercolor

Published on by kmgunnart4 Comments

The days are beginning to get shorter here in the northern hemisphere, which means it is time to get ready for the upcoming holiday season that kicks off with Halloween and ends with the New Year. Here at the beginning of August, it means it is time to think about what art you want on your Christmas cards! I have two paintings from last year, both five by seven inches, both ornaments hanging on the tree that I have not blogged yet to go along with my Winter Snowman watercolor painting also from last year.

The why behind the art

This was actually a test of a company’s watercolor paper; the red one is on hot press and the blue one on cold press, which really matters more to me as the artist than anyone who doesn’t paint. (The brand is Legion’s Stonehenge Aqua, for other artists reading this who may be wondering.) After finding a reference photo that I really like, I painted them side by side. I was pleased with how both turned out, and it gave me a good idea of what to expect from each … along with two cheery and festive paintings that both look just right for cards!

Blue Ornament, watercolor painting on paper, 5x7 inch
Blue Ornament, 5 x 7 inch watercolor painting

Where to purchase this artwork

Both originals are currently available for $35 USD each either in person or through Daily Paintworks, and are the perfect size to fit inside most greeting card envelopes. Prints and card pack for the blue ornament are available at this page on my Pixels site, and for apparel, small prints, and cards through RedBubble click here.

Red Ornament, 5x7 inch watercolor painting on paper
Red Ornament, 5 x 7 inch watercolor painting

For the red ornament, here is the link to prints and cards at Pixels, while the RedBubble link is here.

As for why I have titled this post “part one,” I plan to paint more designs for greeting cards through the year and for more holidays as well, so keep an eye here for the newest ones!

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Sunrise at the Beach watercolor painting

Published on by kmgunnart2 Comments

After six flamingo paintings, I guess I got restless and on a whim I painted this lovely little beachscape, which is my term for a landscape that features a beach (rather obvious). It also has elements of a seascape and a cloudscape, but the sand and some shore grass tip it firmly into the beachscape classification in my opinion. It’s the sunrise part that makes the clouds so interesting to me.

The original is on paper that was sold as ten inches by ten inches, but a careful measure shows one dimension to be about an eighth of an inch short. This was the first time I had noticed this deficiency on the block (glued pad of pre-stretched watercolor paper that buckles much less than taping a sheet down myself) even though I have already done a previous painting (will post that soon!). While I can fix that on the scan, the original is not quite square. I am not at all versed in the intricacies of framing art, so I don’t know if that will have an effect.

Sunrise at the Beach watercolor landscape
Sunrise at the Beach, 10 x 10 inch watercolor, original available $100 USD plus shipping

Overall, I think this is my best landscape so far. Then again, this is only my fourth landscape I’ve done this year, so not a whole lot of competition there! I am asking $100 for the original, and do ship. Prints are available at my Pixels page, and apparel and accessories are at my RedBubble page for those who like to wear their art.

I do still have a pile of paintings and pastel works to post, so stay tuned!

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