Oh, Look, Another Bird!

I finished another bird in the woodcarving group and like this one a whole lot better than the first one I carved.  This one was sort of my own design although from a free vector from a public domain photo site I occasionally use.  I still have to put some sort of finish on it but I decided not to paint it.  If I wanted a painted bird, I'd do it on paper or canvas, right?

I think that's it for birds, at least for the time being.  One of these days, I'd like to carve a sandpiper, heron or egret but in the meantime, I have a fox on-board for the next project.  It's quite a bit larger than either of the birds (about 18" long) so wish me success!

Chickadee Painting Demo

Where does the time go?  Again, I apologize for the time between blog posts but somehow, time just gets away!  As kids, we'd used to complain that we were bored or had nothing to do and the day would just drag by.  My grandmother always used to say 'just wait til you get older!'  My grandmother was a very wise woman!

Anyway, the demo/paint-along of the chickadee went really well and the class actually finished in an hour instead of the two we thought it would take.  Here is a photo of the event and, as you can see, the participants were lively, fun and very good for first time painters!  Oh, that's me in the back row next to the gentleman in the light blue shirt.

photo courtesy of, and copyright to, Alan Russo

All of the participants were great sports and all said they'd had a good time.  Since we had some time leftover, I was asked to demonstrate how to make a tree with some leaves.  We were using cheap Canson watercolor paper and really cheap gouache but those who painted the tree still did really well.

Even though I was very nervous and sort of scared, the COA still asked me if I would do another demo and/or paint-along in the future.  I wasn't sure but think it would be fun now that I know the ropes a bit better!