Pink Backed Pelican… “this is a painting”

Every Tuesday evening from 4:00-5:30pm Portland, OR time.. I teach an online zoom class how to paint birds in watercolor. Ive been teaching this class since February 2021! I can’t believe its been going on for about 9 months! Im so grateful to all my students who show up every week, or once in awhile or even just one time. Showing up to a class with an open mind to learn is the first step towards feeling a sense of confidence and achievement. So thank you to all my students over the past 9 months, that means all 56 of you!!!

This week we worked on a painting of a Pink Backed Pelican, which is a dumpy looking bird. But with the idea of color in mind, we can create a painting that is quite beautiful and compelling. I always keep in mind that “this is a painting” and we have the freedom to explore color, brushwork, composition, et. We have the right to eliminate things and change things from the original reference photograph. We can make choices that reflect ourselves through the medium of watercolor.

I loved the idea that this pelican has a warm dusty rose hue to it. So I took this idea of duty rose and started with a light wash in the background, as well as in the bird with a mixture of permanent rose, raw Sienna, and touch of purple. The darker hues also has an addition of cobalt blue. But the idea is to start with a dominant color, like dusty rose, as the initial wash that will find its way to the surface, peaking out between edges, adding an pink glow to the color that lay on top of it, or standing on its own as the lightest light in the painting.

I love to think about the soul of my painting as having this pink light shining from within. It creates depth and light, not only in the layering of transparent color, but also an aura that radiates the artists thought process. A deeper vision from within coming forward through creative expression and making what is personal, visible as art. There is so much beauty to what lies beneath the layers of watercolor paint. Keeping this in mind as an artist, allows oneself to be more accepting during the process of painting a picture and at the same time, observing the self.

Be kind to yourself and let your flow. Sometimes you have to let go of expectations and allow the intuited process of painting with watercolor evolve naturally and organically, observing along the way. Enjoy!! Love!!