Margaret

I was working on this Junco for a xmas card and used both wet on wet and dry brush techniques. I like using both together. When I just use dry brush, it tends to get messy looking. See the example of the garden scene. Wet on wet isn't easy either because if the paper dries and you don't notice, the paint forms a hard edge where you don't want it to. I enjoyed working on the mallard using wet on wet. I like doing flowers wet on wet too.  

When I started with the quick gesture drawing of a still object timed I found that much easier and I liked it better than trying to capture the moving image.  I found the Pintail Duck impossible for myself and gave up.  The Mourning Doves at the feeder were ok because they sat long enough to get something on the paper.  When I refined both the Wren and the Coyote original gesture drawing I was pleased to see that the proportions were not too bad. With the Wren I could see right away that the space between the head and tail ( the negative space) was not large enough and I corrected that distance. Over all I got the head a bit too big for the body but decided to leave that as a reminder to myself. The bulrush and the bill were out a bit and I corrected that. A few other corrections were needed too but they were obvious and easy to change. I liked doing it this way. I used all the techniques you have taught us, first the quick gesture drawing, measuring the negative space between parts of the object, using my pencil to gauge proportion and slant,  the shading teqnique for depth, short strokes with my pencil......I also used all the same techniques with the coyote to refine and I could refine more, I think the head is a bit small but it wouldn't take much to enlarge it a bit. Using negative space is very useful for me. When I use it to refine, I can see at a glance where I need to refine.

It's hard and I'm not sure what I get out of it. I like the idea of capturing the moment though. Usually I try and remember the moment I want to portray or capture it in a video or photo.   jI'm not s

I decided it was too cold for me to sit outside comfortably. I've been doing Feeder Watch and often watch the backyard where I have a water bath and several feeding stations. The Red-breasted Nuthatch that appeared for the first time a month ago has fascinated me. Seeing RBNU in the forest trees is very different. I have been surprised at their tiny size, only 4 inches, smaller and slimmer than the Goldfinches and House Finches that come to my feeder. Everyone says how cute they are with their behaviours of sneaking in so quickly you hardly see them and it's so true. They are adorable! Drawing the 3 birds together I noticed how different their patterns are, how different their bills are even though they are all seed eaters. The Nuthatch has such a long pointed slender bill but I know that's for digging and poking into tree bark for bugs etc. They also hide their food in bark crevices. I think when they fling themselves into my feeder and swoop out so fast I can hardly see them that they are hiding the seeds in the Ponderosa Pine tree that is next to the feeder. I should add the Black-capped Chickadees that come to the feeder to show how large they appear beside the Nuthatch.  I want to do this sketch again but add and compare the BCCH and add some water color paint.

I like to do nature journaling exactly like you have done above. It's simple and very effective. Beautiful. I like what you say about wanting to find a balance between loose water-colour and detailed line. Me too!