Still working on proportions and posture.  Painting is new for me and I am slow.

I enjoyed repainting and used some of the techniques we learned. I need to get better at washes. I erased the pencil lines and that made a nice difference. My colors are punchier too...thanks to glazes!  

Hi All, I am really pleased about the outcome, I have noticed massive improvements in the shapes, colors and the attention to details that have been improved during this course. I would like to go backward to see some videos about other techniques. I now start to get the sense of what I am drawing and how I am drawing nature. I still dislike to draw birds, I found them very complicated to draw, but I do enjoy the process about see progress and improvements. A big difference has been in use of the watercolors and how everything has changed. I am truly pleased about the course.

I am happy with my progress.  I am able to see proportions and negative space and feeling more confident in drawing what I see. I used color pencil for my first drawing but am now getting more comfortable with watercolor: using wet on wet and wet on dry. I still want to work on everything and plan on giving this little guy another try or two in the future.  Thank you for a wonderful and encouraging course!

I have had so much fun in this course I’m sorry it’s come to an end. I’m going to try my best to continue exploring nature and recording my discoveries in my journal.

 I was more confident to apply watercolors to my drawing this time. I used all the various techniques in applying the colors. I also noticed that my use of perspective (measuring) in the various sizes of the branches and leaves, along with the bird is better in relation to each other & helps make the drawing realistic and 3-D. I do know that I want to continue to work on the finer details of applying color to my drawings. I need to add a finer detail brush to my supplies.

I'm happy with the progress in my "before and after"! The proportions are much better, and I had fun playing with the watercolor. I'd like to get more practice at the different watercolor techniques to really capture differences in texture. Also looking forward to having enough practice that I can draw things more accurately the first one or two attempts, instead of destroying the tooth of my paper by erasing and redrawing so many times (the beak gave me so much trouble, heh).

This course has been fantastic. My second Warbler is definitely better although a bit hump backed, but I'm very happy with what I have learned. Proportions and drawing what I see are still two issues for me but I have made great progress and I will go back to start anew with the course.  

This one is much improved. I can really tell that it's more informed--details, shadows, subtleties of color. Still looks as wooden as the original, but hey, practice practice practice. This morning I woke up to the song of a yellow warbler in the bush outside my window. Coincidence?

I spent more time in the 1st one to get as much detail as possible. This was my 1st time using watercolors and its definitely harder than what I thought. I learned so much in this amazing course and I definitely need to continue practicing and developing patience with the watercolor. The talented people posting their work here is very inspiring !

It looks like two different people made it. It's almost unbelievable - indeed it would be if I wasn't myself the person behind both the drawings - that I managed to do it in just two months. Liz wasn't kidding when she said she had taught students that knew nothing of drawing. I'm truly impressed with her work. And even knowing I still need to get better at wet-on-wet, proportions, and negative space, I'm proud of mine!

Comparison between my two sketches (I chose not to use color for the second one either): - both heads still need a bit of work - my shading and line usage is SO MUCH BETTER - everything is far more proportional in general, looks more realistic - drawing with more confidence My drawing has improved so much. I've always loved art and nature, but haven't ever had anyone really break down all the art skills and strategies. I'm hoping to take some more photos of landscapes and paint those too. Really enjoyed this class and can clearly see the progress. These sketches are EXACTLY two months apart.

I held off on this exercise, partly because I didn’t want to mess up and partly because I didn’t want the course to end. I am feeling fairly comfortable with drawing, but need a lot of practice with painting. I am having trouble getting the 3D effects with watercolors. Also, I find handling the brush and paint to do finer lines is very tough for me. Need practice on getting a good background in as well. Practice, practice, practice! But this has been lots of fun and I hope to continue.

My chat turned out much better than the warbler. The body shape and position is better and the coloring. I will try to get better at drawing the warbler, but at least I know I can do one fairly accurately.

There was a long gap of time from when I started the class in October and am wrapping it up in mid May. I wish I had been able to stick with it in a more concentrated way in order to really work on improving, but I've enjoyed the techniques taught and plan to continue to work on improvement. I enjoy the Koi watercolor kit a lot, which is much easier than dragging out my tubes of color and large palette. I really need to work on showing a tilt of the head towards the viewer rather than everything looking like it is in profile!

I had not drawn any nature in 50 years, however I did draw insects at the California Academy of the Sciences in the mid sixties.  This was all brand new to me. My hardest issue is the landscapes. They all come out looking very impressionistic. You will note a big difference in my warblers.  The first one I only had colored pencils, so I had to order the watercolors. The last one took me a while to complete waiting for paint to dry.

The one  on top was take 2. I think I will re-sketch it and attempt to apply watercolor, but I'm struggling with progress and need to learn more techniques.

• Pleased with gains, really pleased. Feel good about proportions, layering, details, and ability to provide context/setting. Still not able to capture gesture of head partly turned toward observer. First sketch was 53 days ago (preCovid shelter-in-place), and I’ve had lots of time every day to work on exercises. Thanks for the good instructions.

     

Before After I can definitely see improvement!! I'm so happy!😁

I tried to put color to my drawing