Three Bluebird Watercolors : Step-by-Step

Having so much fun painting again and listening to Pandora Radio - Paul Hardcastle station. Smooth Jazz stations are next to impossible to find in Central Pennsylvania, so my iPod and Pandora fill me in with my favorite music while painting.

The last post featured two bluebird paintings on the drawing table. Here are the next three of the five I've set up as my refresher course in watercolor painting. They were a lot of fun compared to the first two. I'm getting back in the swing of things and I'm "remembering" some of what was lost when I wasn't practicing!

Step-by-step Bluebird #3

Bluebird Squatting - Pat Dolan - watercolor - 5.6"x8"

Step-by-step Bluebird #4

Bluebird Looking Right - Pat Dolan - watercolor - 7"x10"

Step-by-step Bluebird #5

Bluebird Looking Left - Pat Dolan - watercolor - 7"x10"

I hope you enjoy seeing how a painting progresses through various stages of development. These have been very good for practice as I've been out of the studio since Christmas and just now am able to be painting once again.

Time evaporates when I'm painting, drawing, creating in one way or another. I definitely loosened up with each painting and felt more comfortable with the paint on the brush in my hand. Just getting back to mixing colors, making sure to have the right amount of paint/water ratio, and remembering how to integrate a background to make the bird feel it belongs in the painting... So much of this is done automatically when one has been painting frequently, but things get lost when one isn't regularly practicing!