I'm surprised at the skills gained after a year in the course.  How delightful to grow in this journey will everyone and I truly look forward to seeing one year from now how my skills have developed.

I am pleased how my lessons improved this Yellow Warbler, Watercolor is my medium of choice, sometimes waiting for the paint to dry is my challenge. Therefore, taking my time, waiting until the paint dries, don't be in a hurry. I must say this little bird on July 7th took almost two hours to complete. This class has taught me many new things. I have loved nature all my live, loved to hike and backpack and put in the miles. Now - I enjoy sitting in the forest, listen to the birds, forage for edibles, take photos and attempt to paint. I have often taken my sketchbook along, usually I take a photo and draw at home.  My question is - when will I sit down and actually do a plein air....? hoping to find a group to paint outside.

I have enjoyed taking this course(although it took me months to get through it). I always enjoyed drawing but am badly out of practice. This course helped me get back into it and going forward I am going to draw and sketch more frequently. I did a pencil sketch the second time around feeling it will be a good compare and contrast. In the second one I did pay more attention to detail, as well as using proportion and negative space as aids. 

It took me a year and one day to get this course completed. I think my final bird looks kind of worried, but overall has better proportions than the portly one I first drew. I used the idea of looking at negative space to get the body to be more accurate. From taking the course, I also learned to do the background all at once to start, instead of afterward and I had a lot less color bleeding that way. When I did my first painting, I didn't know about letting the layers dry and everything kind of bled together. In the second attempt, I was able to get more details on the stomach stripes and leaves, from layering and using a smaller brush. Overall, I think the second picture reflects more of the actual bird and the first one is more of the idea of the bird. I still need a lot of practice, but I did make progress! Thanks for the wonderful course.

I have improved a lot. I did a pencil drawing to make a better comparison. My second drawing is much better observed, with more accurate detail in the branch and the bird. Proportions and negative space are better. I have learned how to see the details and the shapes. I am really thrilled with the result. I’m a lot more confident and enjoying taking the time with my journaling. I expect I’ll improve further.

Well the the new effort was a bit disappointing. I think I rushed things a bit. I have to remember to be sure it's DRY! The wash didn't come out well because the paper was not wet enough at the top, but came out better at the bottom--lesson learned. I practiced using a dryer brush, still an effort to get that right. With the exception of the rust feathers, the colors came out ok. I find working under yellowy incandescent lights to be difficult on a dreary grey day. Loved this class and really want to get out in the field and practice, practice, practice!

I think I made a lot of use of proportion and negative space in the second drawing.  I would never have attempted watercolour before doing this course.  I would like to work on capturing the little details with watercolour.

I was so excited to look at both drawings. The recent one was more refined. The drawing techniques were fun to put into practice. I focused on negative spaces which helped to get a better drawing. I felt good about the proportions. Need to work on edges and make the bird 3D by applying layers of colors to show form and detail. I'm pleased with both drawings because it was my first time to draw and paint birds in a journal! Thank you for all the tips and tutorial that made this possible. Below are my two drawings of the Yellow Warbler.

I truly believe I applied most, if not all, the drawing techniques that I've learned in this class!  I especially was aware of proportion and negative space with this drawing.  I feel very good about how far I've come in the last 10 weeks since I have never attempted to draw artistically previously-"no talent" is no excuse when you have some techniques to practice.  I want to work on developing my own style, to be effectively give the impression of the image that I want to preserve without getting bogged down in the detail, shading and dimensionality are goals, as well as being more subtle with my paint colors and values.

I tried to better use proportion in the second drawing, although I still have to work on values. Watercolor is still a technique I'm working. Less forgiving than the pencil and eraser!

This course has been absolutely wonderful and I will definitely go through it again! I love the relaxed way that Liz teaches, and all of the wonderful techniques that she demonstrates. Thank you!

I couldn’t find my first drawing but here is my second, the fourth water color I have tried.  Still figuring things out, like how to get the black feathers in the wings.  It was fun to do, and thank you for teaching me!

I like using the watercolors and I try most of the techniques. I know I still need to work on proportion, especially when drawing animals.  Birds are really complex and the proportions and sets of wings are perplexing but I know I can get better with practice.  I like to do the birds eyes.     Here are my before and after images of the warbler , I definitely think I showed improvement. 

Sorry, I can't find my first drawing. I'm sure, though, that I just drew the bird and branch the way I saw them. Since I am already a trained artist, there wasn't too much of a difference between the two drawings in terms of realism. I unfortunately haven't done much art at all in the last 10 years. I still can draw realistically, but I am less apt to experiment because I feel very out of practice. So, the difference in my case is that, after taking this class and starting to draw/paint again, I loosened up and started to feel more experimental again. With the warbler photo, I had fun changing the design of the branch and foliage. I liked the way the photo was more horizontal than a standard shape and decided to make my drawing in an even more elongated format - a little like an oriental drawing.

Finally had time to pull the images together. I definitely made some progress in skills, judging shape and size, and I'm less frustrated with watercolors now than I was earlier in the course. I like the vibrant colors that I can add with watercolors. Outlining is really rough, and wet on wet seems to be only useful for backgrounds or larger areas where you don't need definition. Or maybe as a first layer then details on top. Still have a lot to learn! Drawing 1 with pencils: Drawing 2 with watercolors (not really finished but I'm letting go of it and starting on a third with lessons learned):

Top photo is second sketch.  The other one my first sketch.  I think I’ve improved at least paying more attention to details and sketching what I see not what I think I see. This has been a great class as I’ve learned a lot. Now when the weather warms up and spring comes I can do field sketching.  I’ve had to do all mine indoors.