Nancy

I'm developing a little more control with my brush strokes. Used wet on wet for the body, then wet on dry for the facial features and a combination of wet on dry and dry brush on the tree.

I figure everyone could use a laugh just now, so I will share my tale of inattentive shopping. I have retired to Monteverde, Costa Rica and signed up for this class because I finally had the time to delve into watercolor painting. When I was in the states last Christmas, I dashed to Michael's arts and craft store to buy my supplies. I was in a hurry to get my shopping done so I could break my granddaughter out of daycare early. I asked the nice clerk if they had Sakura 24 color pocket Field Sketch Box watercolor sets. He found one for me, and I quickly purchased it, an extra brush and watercolor sketchbook. Living in rural Costa Rica, I often don't have a strong enough internet signal to stream the videos for this course, so I have been making my way through this course very slowly. Imagine my surprise and consternation when I finally opened my watercolor set and realized that I had purchased a "Creative Art Colors" kit with a metallic, pearlescent and fluorescent palette! NOT what I was expecting! It will be fine for painting some of the magnificent birds and flowers here, but my color mixing adventure will be very different from yours. The biggest drawback is that my kit has no black or gray. The darkest color is bright purple. I think I can purchase a child's watercolor set the next time I go into Santa Elena for groceries and solve that problem. I need much practice, but will share my paintings along the way. (These will also give you a good laugh, I think!)

I went to Sierpe with The Birding Club of Costa Rica. We went to a farm where king vultures nest. Usually, king vultures are only seen soaring high in the sky, so it was a privilege to see them up close. There was an adult perched in a tree, and a juvenile down on the ground with some black vultures. They were eating a pig head the farmer had put out for them. While this is a working farm, allowing tourists to come and observe the vultures and have a meal boosts the farm's income. We spent a long time observing the juvenile's behavior. He, or she, was much larger than the black vultures (I looked it up: 32 inches vs. 25 inches). The king vulture repeatedly spread its wings over the food in an attempt to keep the black vultures at bay. The king seemed to be getting more of the snack than the black vultures. Many questions came to mind. Why is the juvenile black, while the adults are mostly white? When does the plumage change? When does the juvenile grow the orange lumps on the beak that the adults have? Why do king vultures have smooth heads while black vultures have bumpy heads? Why is the king vulture's beak so much thicker and stronger looking than the black vultures? Is it a good thing that the farmer is feeding them? Were we disturbing them? (It did not appear so. We were far enough away that we needed binoculars to really see the details. I took photos and drew this scene from a photo.) Will I every really understand chiaroscuro and be able to express it in my drawings?

I love your drawing. You captured all the identifying features of this bird exquisitely.

Since I have not been drawing lately, I found everything challenging, but manageable once I started. I struggled to get the dimensions right on the bird. I need to work on head size and beaks. I found it easier to start by lightly drawing the shapes within the bird. I had difficulty getting the correct colors with my colored pencils. I would not have noticed the lichen and moss on the branch, nor how the warbler's feet gripped the branch if I were not drawing it. Nature journaling always helps me notice more details.