Nancy

@Avery Thanks Avery.  I was a little surprised at it too.  I think the suggestion of the hand really is what makes it stand out.  I guess one has been found in eastern Washington so I hope this hornet can be stopped.

And another.  

I finally got brave enough to try color on my drawings, actually copies of my drawings, copies onto watercolor paper.  I am not totally pleased with them but here they are and I would like suggestions from any  other students.

My first attempt is to use the dry on dry technique, or nearly dry.  I did this due to the small areas I was coloring.  I used by comparison drawing of the hornets and honey bee and added color to it.  I think the Asian hornet and the honey bee came out the best.  I found it was difficult to get the brush dry enough not to be runny, but I got the hang of it, I think.  I really enjoy working with color.

April 21, 2020  cloudy and rainy I have an observation spot at breakfast each morning.  We sit at a large window and look out on our bird feeders which sits about 3 feet from the window.  This is to allow my husband, who has low vision to see the birds, it also discourage bird strikes into the window. There are four feeders hanging from a porch swing frame,  two tube feeders have a mix of seed, another has only sunflower seed chips, and the third is a 3 suet cake wire feeder.  We also have a larger feeder on a post about 15 feet away.  My husband is the filler of the feeders.  He experiments with different types of suet to see which birds like which flavors.  He also feeds peanuts to "Mr. Squirrel, Red, and Blacky" and a fluxuating number of babies. Our residence is at 1160 feet in elevation, and we are in a temperate rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.  We have a large lawn area surrounded by trees and wild areas.  Native plants of salal and oregon grape, several fern species, wild blackberries, wild strawberries, Douglas fir, cedar, alder, vine maple, maple, hemlock, and berry trees.  There are many wild flowers and I also grow roses within and deer resistant plants outside the fenced area.  We have summer on Thursday during one of the summer months and winter is usually a week long.  These are by midwestern standards, as we moved here from central Illinois.  The rest of the year we have the rainy season October to May and the dry season June to September.  However, the rainy season is generally polite with light rain or mist, which doesn't stop outdoor activities, but still tends to soak one to the skin.  We have few thunderstorms but we do get wind. We see and I am now noting a great number of changes throughout the year.  There are resident birds that stay with us all year like the juncos, nuthatches, downy and hairy woodpeckers, flickers, Stellar's jays, spotted towhees, doves, chestnut backed chickadees and white crowned sparrows who visit our feeders regularly.  Spring and summer residents include robins, of course, varied thrushes, gray jays, gold crowned sparrows, song sparrows, pine siskins,  house, purple and gold finches, black-headed grosbeaks, and hummingbirds, Anna's and Rufus and others I am not remembering at the moment. Depending upon the time of day that I am watching, there are varying degrees of  activity.  The birds definitely have their siesta times, and their social functions, as well as their feeding frenzies.  It is interesting to watch the interactions between birds of the same species and those between different species.  There is a definite hierarchy.  Claw is highest, with raptors in the area stimulating hiding behavior.  The squirrels also get deferential treatment. Next on the hierarchy is  beak length or pointed-ness.  It's amazing how the little nuthatch can always find a perch at a feeder.  General size of the bird plays into the pecking order as well but also aggressiveness , especially with individuals within the same species.  Another interesting behavior in some species that mate for the season or for life, is that the males will protect the females while they eat at the feeders; I often see the male grosbeak sitting on a branch above the feeder while she eats. I have this written in my journal but my hand writing is difficult to read sometimes so I decided to type this.  I will try to post my journal pages with illustrations in the furture.

This is my first journal entry.  

Oranges are hard to texture.  But I think this shows Chiaroscuro, the 3D, I am not as sure of.          I thought I submitted this last night but don't see it this morning so if it is duplicate, I sorry.

I have been working from photographs because I find I can see the light better.  The fur on this vixen was a challenge.  Tomorrow I will try some real fruit.

It was very difficult to get the shape just right.  Oh and the beak is terrible.  I hope I improve.  I used some colored pencils but am looking forward to using water colors.  More and more subtle colors are needed.  I could see the details but just couldn't duplicate them. However, I have to say I liked the challenge.