Hummingbird in Watercolour

Welcome to a new week! Does anyone know what the date is? Month? Just kidding – I can tell when it’s Monday, because people leave the house to go to work. And I know today’s date, because tomorrow is my husband’s birthday! Working from  home, the calendar does get a little fuzzy, I will admit! This weekend I took some time to do this little hummingbird in watercolour.

WATERCOLOUR HUMMINGBIRD

Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I’ve admitted to not being good at sketching. I need a reference, for starters! So I found this one from Let’s Make Art, a great site for watercolour artists of all skill levels. They have loads of free tutorials and sketch outlines, as well as selling monthly kits. I’ve talked about them before, and as I’ve said – if it weren’t for the dollar exchange rate & shipping costs, I’d be a loyal customer!  Unfortunately, neither they or I have control over those 2 issues – so when I use their free outlines, I ALWAYS promote their site! Please do check them out – just click on their name in blue, above.

Here is my completed hummingbird in watercolour.

Here’s one tip: if you think you’re work is ‘missing something’ – put a mat over it! It’s amazing what a mat or frame can do for a piece of art! I intentionally did this on a piece of watercolour that was 5 1/2″ x 7 1/2″, so that I could mat it with an opening of 5″ x 7″. Hiding those edges of the leaves that look unfinished makes a big difference.

DANIEL SMITH WATERCOLOUR PAINTS

I sketched the image onto Arches coldpress paper with a pencil. Next, I worked on the hummingbird. Of course I used my Daniel Smith watercolour paints. If you’re wondering, the colours I used are Rose of Ultramarine, Quinacridone Rose, Serpentine Genuine, Phthalo Green, Cascade Green, Green Apatite, Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Hansa Yellow, Black and Shadow Violet.

I can see tons of things I will do differently next time! Look at those goofy feet! And the wings are a bit too small. But, it’s not bad for a first try! And that’s the thing with watercolour, or any type of painting. You have to practice, practice, practice. Plus, you should ALWAYS finish the piece you’re working on. There is always a point, usually about 1/3 rd or half way through, when it looks hopeless. That’s when you need to say to yourself “it’s a work in progress; the details aren’t in place yet. keep going!”  Because it will always get better. Trust me.

Here’s a close up look a the image. You can see what worked, and what didn’t. The one thing I’m really loving is the throat of the hummingbird! I mixed my own purple, and then blended in the Rose of Ultramarine underneath.

The feet weren’t supposed to be that big – my brush kinda got away from me! My flowers are the wonkiest things I’ve ever drawn – we’ll just call it ‘artistic license’, okay? LOL

SHARE YOUR WATERCOLOUR WORK, AND BE ENTERED TO WIN!

C’mon friend – I really want to be able to give away this gorgeous hummingbird Art Pouch that I ordered from Doodlewash! It arrived last Friday, so I have it in my hot little hands – not just a photo anymore!

This gorgeous pouch measures 8 1/2″ x 5 3/4″, made of durable, waterproof 100% polyester. With a sturdy zipper top and flat corners, it’s perfect for carrying your pencils, brush and travel paint pans.  All you have to do to be entered to win are these 3 easy things:

• First, create a watercolour project, using any type of watercolours paints you like, on any substrate. So you could be painting on watercolour paper, on Yupo, or a canvas.
• Second, take a picture of your watercolour project!
• Third, send me a photo of your project to thistledesigns@shaw.ca ! Be sure that I can email you back at the email you’re using to send me the photo. I’d love to share pictures of the submissions, so please let me know in your email if I have  your consent to do that. I’ll be only posting them here on my blog, and will identify the artist by first name only.

Provide some details about your project, if you like. And I’d love to hear about how & when you started watercolour painting. Maybe what are your favourite subjects to paint? Whatever info you’d like to share is great!  On August 1st, I’ll randomly select 1 project from all those received, and declare a winner!  If you’d like to share your submission on your social media platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc) please use the hashtag #thistledesignschallenge so I can find them!  Please feel free to share this challenge with your friends!

SUPPLIES

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