Blue Bird

My homeschool crew was back for some spring painting!  This time we worked on a blue bird image for their grandparents.   Super fun, and super beautiful result!

First up were the little guys!  "E" and "K" began to create a beautiful backdrop!  Here "E" uses a foam brush to mix in blue with some neutrals, while I held it up for easy brushing!

Then we gave "K" a sponge to start patting the paint.  Mom helped too!

"K" loves the mess!  The rest of our session was spent creating nice texture and looking adorable while doing it.

Great job backdrop crew!

In between the littles and bigs, I sketched in some branches and a blue bird to prepare for the painting image.

"J" was up next to add in the next layer of the painting, the background branches and flowers.  We went with light shades of the colors for these background areas.  He was doing such a great job, he got to work on the fore ground branches too.

 Great start "J"!

Our next step was using light shades for the idea of leaves and flower blooms in the background.  "J" stamped in the images with a sponge.

 "J" was really into the process today and wanted to do some of the blue bird as well.  So I outlined the blue area, and he filled it in beautifully!

 I was officially excited!   This was looking AMAZING!  Great work "J"!  You are always such fun company!

 Now time for my final painter!  "L" came in to add the rest!  We started with the fore ground flowers and leaves.   "L" used a sponge stamper to get the right shape, and then painted over her marks with a brush for the thicker coat.  The process took time, but was well worth it!

 Now "L" worked on the rest of the bird and detailing some of the flowers.  All those final steps to create the beautiful finished result!

"L's" final step was to add one more layer of brown paint to the tree branch, in order to smooth it out a bit, and then we called it complete.   Such a beautiful image!   It turned out so serene!  Love it!

And now time to pose with the the crew!   Love these kiddos!   Nice ones first, and then the SILLY one!

One more silly for "J" and "K"

Adorable Owlets!

10 year old "S" was back to paint a nature scene with me after her initial Tropical Beach painting a few months ago.  This time, her painting was a gift for Grandma who "LOVES owls"!  "S" was really excited to paint her cute owlets for Grandma!   Animals of any sort are no easy task, 

and I was very impressed with her result!   Adorable!

On our first meeting, "S" worked on the misty background, similar to what her older sister did in her Iris painting.  Using a sponge, she mixed a variety of shades of green throughout the background.  At first she was nervous, but once she got started, she saw how cool it looked and did an amazing job!

Her friends and classmates, my daughters, worked on some of their own artistic creations to keep us company while we painted!

After the greens were in, I gave her a round sponge to add bits of light yellow and white to the background.  Beautiful!

Next "S" used a sponge dotter to add the eyes.  Then we began to add in the tree ledge with grays.

Mastering the double brush technique!  :) Awesome!   We worked on texturing the branch....this took some time, but paid off in results!

Highlighting the top with some terra cotta....

And session 1 is done!   "S", you created a beautiful backdrop!  Now on to those owls!

Session 2:
Today we started the owls' face details since this would be the area which would take the most concentration!  Lots of little finicky things here with the eyes and beaks!

Great job with those faces "S"!  No easy task for sure!  Now "S" did some darker shading and then sponged over the owlets' fuzz because we wanted to create a "furry" look, no feathers on these guys yet!

"S" loved the light color of the owls, so we did some miminal shading on their bodies and added light reflections to their eyes, and called it done!   Adorable!   "S" these little guys make me smile!   Just as you do!  I loved your excitement as you got to see your painting come together!   It was contagious!   Awesome work!   I think Grandma will LOVE it!