Bird and the Beanstalk

Bird and the Beanstalk

December 2013

Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

What a surprise for a bird flying, to run into something so high up! This was the first time in a really long time of using actual watercolor paper. I found it in an old bin of my things and decided to give it a shot. Consider it a sold concept, using watercolor paper when I watercolor! I could actually work the paint in different ways after it was down. Some things I tried on this picture were layering the paint to create darker areas and moving the pigment around with water to create light areas. I took tissue and wiped off the paint in the blue background for the clouds. In the scan you can't see it, but it left a slight bluish wash with a few light blue streaks that I really liked because it added texture to the white area. I put a yellow wash over the beanstalk after I had the green where I wanted it. For the streaks behind the bird and the birds feathers I used a lifting technique with water and brush to pull the paint back off the paper in those places. Two things that I would change... or work on: The bird is a little heavy in the tail department. The background isn't a solid, smooth wash. I will need to practice to get the background all one shade and smooth. One funny thing was that when my daughter saw the picture, she knew it was Jack's beanstalk. She saw the bird and couldn't get over the fact that I gave it eyebrows! So funny!