Jane does such a good job with details.  My attempt using watercolors and regular brushes.

What a mess! Well, it actually looks better in the photo than in reality. However I learnt two things: Don't use canvas because you have it, like me. Paper would have been much easier as the heavy grain made it hard to paint details. Secondly, fine lines just aren't my thing. I also could not work out how Jane was managing to pick up paint on her brush for mixing without muddying the pile that she got it from. So, back to practice....

Got this course as an early Christmas present and have learned so much from it. The wings transparency drove me crazy but overall I'm happy with how it looks.

Let's call it done.

I am a 73 year old woman. Two years ago I took a course that I enjoyed, Nature Journaling with Liz Clayton on the Cornell Bird Academy site. Prior to this I didn't have any experience with drawing or water coloring. I became very interested in drawing birds and plants and fr0m then on would draw most days of the week. Last year, I took Jane's Avocet egg painting course which I really enjoyed. When I saw this course, I thought I would give it a try.  This course was very intense for me.  I have had very little training in the fundamentals of  drawing or painting. I repeated each section of this course at least 5 times or more. I really liked Bird in a Ball. I have made many, many mistakes and corrections but, I was determined to finish. Even though, this was difficult and isn't as perfect as I want, I am grateful for all that I have learned through my errors and Jane's wonderful teaching. This is as good as my painting is going to get at this point. Thank you, Jane.

Pretty happy with colors and layers and contrast. This time for a pallet I used drawing paper over the sponge sheet in a Tupperware container - way slower paint drying time now. It seems this technique is between traditional acrylic and watercolor. I didn't put in much in the way of feather texture - maybe next time.

I'm using watercolor (Winsor Newton) instead of acrylics.  Keeping track of overlapping feathers was a challenge!

Those wings were murder!

My image is so dark. I know what you mean about going for lighter tones, Jane.What a heavy hand I have with the paint.  I had more subtle tones but dont see them in this reproduction. This was a huge challenge in so many ways and a great bird to learn on.  

This was a challenge for me. I am used to watercolor, and it was difficult not to be able to lift out color. I am not sure that I agree that there are no mistakes with acrylics. I made plenty.

I love birds in flight and was excited to try this. I never used acrylics before and got so frustrated I pulled out my colored pencils. So the wings are not the transparent beauty I was hoping to achieve. Now that Jane taught me some great techniques, I'll keep trying. 

This is my first formal painting class. It has been challenging, but in a good way.  I struggle with brush control, color mixing and paint consistency. Really appreciate how the course is structured and of course Jane's amazing teaching.

Thank you so much for this lesson, at times one of frustration, but certainly learned a lot about acrylic paint and water.  Totally new to this and was at times pretty heavy handed.  Will definitely try this one again after I tackle the cardinal.  Looking forward to that.  This was a great Christmas gift!