Perched
While the weather is frightfully cold and icy, I’m content to perch at my desk to paint. And speaking of perched, I’m having a great time teaching Birds and Words online at Winslow Art Center. Participants have been hard at work practicing lettering, layouts, and different ways to put birds together with words, quotes, and poems. This week we worked on perching birds on letters—a fun way to shine the spotlight on our avian neighbors and record what birds are hanging out and surviving the cold this February.
Tips & Techniques– Watercolor is notoriously challenging for correcting mistakes. Sometimes you can lift out paint, but it’s not uncommon to make things worse by scrubbing too much. I’ve also seen people try to paint over mistakes with too heavy a hand resulting in an overworked piece. So when I noticed that I had accidentally dropped a blob of blue on my “2025” I decided it might be best just to leave it. If you’re not sure what to do with mistakes, take a break and then come back fresh and evaluate your options: leave, lift, rework, cover over, or start again.
Drawn In 
Had you NOT pointed out the blue “blob” I would have not noticed it! I was so focused and delighted with the birds perched
Jean! Your perfectly designed and painted BIRD is like a breath of refreshingly cold winter air. What a brilliant addition of your February birds list which is both educational and adds a nice counterbalance to the composition. And that blue blob is the perfect touch; a great lesson in the value of happy accidents!
I always spend time looking at your sketch to study how you designed the page before checking your Tips & Techniques. I thought, what an interesting way you tied all the blue on the left of the sketch with just a little touch of blue on the white space on the right. BRAVO BLOB!!!
This sketch is just right to represent the birds of February. Your list of sighted birds is nearly the same as mine, and I live in the center part of the country.
This is absolutely delightful!
How interesting! I never noticed the blob until you pointed it out, Jean. Great tip!
this is delightful Jean, your birds have so much character. So sorry I wasn’t able to join you on this class.
I loved everything about this painting, and was ready to close the window, when I noticed the seeds ON TOP of the “D”. What a delightful surprise! That just made the whole piece for me!
Love the “blob”!
I simply adore all of your watercolors, but you’ve really exceeded yourself with this one, as far as I’m concerned! Such a clever way to include the word ‘bird’ and the little cling ons! This layout is going in my mental notebook for a future journal page! Thank you for all the inspiration!
Oh Jean, such a creative, fun design. I love everything about it, from the adorable birds, to the seeds, the lettering and the blob!
So nice! I love the sunflower seeds – they add more smiles to an already upbeat illustration. Love the way the Chickadee is framed, too. Is the blob the blue spot near the “Y” and “5”? I like it, it looks pretty intentional. 🙂 I hope you’re finding swelling buds….