Hooray! Two-day watercolor workshop at Mobile Museum of Art

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Alabama, art classes, birds, creativity, painting, Val Webb, watercolor, workshops

If you liked the “essential watercolor” technique from Birds in Watercolor and Beyond, I have some very good news for you:

The Essential Bird and Flower in Watercolor

A two-day workshop with Val Webb

Friday, January 9  from 1 to 5pm

Saturday, January 10 from 10am to 3pm

Mobile Museum of Art

$150 members / $180 non-members

Inspired by the bird-and-flower paintings used centuries ago as a form of meditation by Buddhist monks, learn to see the essential parts of your subject and paint them in a series of simple, richly colored brush strokes. Learn to use the spontaneous flow of watercolor to paint birds and blooms that are loose and dynamic, yet surprisingly accurate in their appearance. Use techniques borrowed from traditional Chinese painting — dropping, blowing, and mixing color directly on the paper — to paint vibrant botanicals. No experience necessary, and you do not need to know how to draw. There is a very short supply list, and instructor will also provide some supplies. There is a possibility that you will get paint droplets on your clothing, so wear “studio clothes” or bring an old shirt along.

Info and registration here:

http://www.mobilemuseumofart.com/learn/adults/adult-workshops/

Because you asked: 2015 calendars!

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art, birds, botanical art, butterflies, colored pencil, creativity, drawing, gardening, illustration, Val Webb, watercolor

If you have followed my studio blog for a few years, you may remember the monthly printable hand-drawn and lettered Illustrated Garden calendars. They looked like this:

And this:

I loved drawing them. I loved sending them out to you. Then my illustration work increased and my online art courses blossomed, and I had to reluctantly put them aside. But you never forgot them… For nearly two years, emails have continued to arrive asking for the calendars to return.

“Please bring them back. My office is in a high-rise in New York City, but I can look at your calendar and feel connected to nature.”

“I loved these calendars! I used them to keep records of planting and harvest at a community garden.”

“Your calendar makes me smile.”

With such encouragement, how can I not draw new calendars for 2015? Sometimes, you just have to leap.

The 2015 Illustrated Garden calendar includes an 8 1/2 x 11 page for each month and will be emailed to you in printable pdf form on New Year’s Day, every inch hand-drawn and lettered in ink, watercolor and colored pencil. Besides lots of garden and bird lore, it marks the full moons, dates of the Solstice and Equinox, along with major holidays and some not-so-major but highly interesting ones.

The cost is $12. You may mail a check* (Val Webb, P.O. Box 2212, Fairhope, AL 36533) or click the button below to order through PayPal:

 

*If you choose to send a check, be sure to include the email address where you would like to receive your calendar.

A tale of two kitties (in four steps)

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art classes, cats, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

Scroll down to see the finished watercolor/gouache. Meow!

A parting look

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birds, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

Remember this fellow, who had just been started in an earlier post? I thought you might like to see him completed. I love using this watercolor technique: first painting the entire paper with the background color, then using clean water and a dry brush to lift away the lighter areas. Once that’s done, the detailed work begins with a #4 round brush and some rich browns. Highlights in white gouache are added in a final step.

A member of the breakfast club

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Alabama, birds, drawing, illustration, journal, sketchbook, Val Webb, watercolor

He’s becoming a regular, arriving after the bossy cardinal couple and before the mourning doves. Red-bellied woodpeckers are year-round residents here, and apparently they have a hearty appetite for seeds. “My” woodpecker is a male, easily recognized by his red cowl. Females display a red patch only on the backs of their necks. (Despite their name, you can watch these birds for hours and never catch a glimpse of their red-tinged belly feathers. But the bold black-and-white bars on their wings and their bright caps make it easy to identify them anyway. Bon apetit, Mr. Woodpecker.)

The eyes have it

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birds, drawing, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

Just started a burrowing owl in watercolor. I always paint the eyes first — I think they are my favorite part of the process. Burrowing owls are the nonconformists of the owl family: often active during the day, they can sprint on their long legs when necessary. They nest and roost underground, inhabiting burrows abandoned by rabbits or prairie dogs. Their diet, too, is different from the typical owl menu. In addition to insects, frogs and mice, the little burrowing owl also dines on fruits and seeds. A particular favorite treat is the prickly pear cactus.

Chickens are birds, too

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art classes, birds, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

I always include chickens in my online courses on drawing and painting birds. There are so many things that make a hen fun to draw — scaly toes, fierce beady eyes, all those feathers — and everyone has a basic understanding of chicken anatomy. This lovely girl was a demo for the current session of Birds in Watercolor and Beyond.

Ink + Gouache = Lots of fun

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art classes, birds, creativity, drawing, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

I know, I know… ink and gouache resist was supposed to come several weeks later in my course schedule for “Birds in Watercolor and Beyond.” But I just couldn’t wait to share it. My all-time favorite painting technique, its inky outlines and sudden transformation (as the result of spraying it with a garden hose, the best part of the whole process) remind me of my years spent carving colorful raku tiles. There’s more information on the process in an older post.

Different strokes

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art classes, birds, creativity, illustration, painting, Val Webb, watercolor

It’s fun to paint in a style different from your usual work… that’s why I’m excited about the online course I will launch on Monday. “Birds in Watercolor and Beyond” will encompass a smorgasbord of playful techniques, all centered on birds of the world. Hooray!

Add a pinch of salt…

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butterflies, colored pencil, creativity, drawing, fairies, illustration, tutorial, Val Webb, watercolor

If you liked the atmospheric effect created by dripping alcohol into watercolor wash in the earlier mermaid post, here’s a very similar drawing with a slightly different background texture. Sprinkling ordinary table salt into your freshly painted watercolor wash makes a rich, grainy texture that looks a little like crystals, a little like foliage. It’s a fun and slightly unpredictable way to make interesting backgrounds. I salted only the top and bottom of this small (4×6) rectangle, so that the middle would be smooth enough to add a fairy and her friend. They were painted in watercolor, with finishing details drawn in Prismacolor (the color is Terra Cotta).

Any type of salt will work. Using coarse salt, such as rock salt, results in a larger pattern. Sprinkle it directly into the wet watercolor layer, then allow it to dry completely. Overnight is ideal. Then the grains of salt can be brushed gently away to reveal the textures beneath.

This simple “profile view while holding something up” is a pose that works well if you are not yet comfortable drawing hands. While it offers plenty of possibilities — she could be holding up a small bird, a flower, a soap bubble, a friendly insect — it’s still rewarding to be able to choose whether or not you wish to paint realistic hands. Click here to see my tutorial on drawing them.