Sunday, December 23, 2012

Merry Christmas

Western Bluebird

Merry Christmas all!  
and may your new year be full of creativity, 
good happenings and whatever else is dear to your heart.  

I decided to paint something typical of winter in western Oregon, only I'm stretching it a little by adding the snow.  Usually we get just a hand full of snowy days in the western valleys.  We can always drive into the mountains and get more snow than any child could possibly wish for.  When our girls were teenagers our favorite way to spend Christmas day was to drive to the rim of Crater Lake and cross-country ski along the rim.  

As I type, big foofy flakes are falling.  They aren't sticking yet, but it does give a Christmassy feel to our soggy world.  

7 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you too Elva. I hope you and yours are happy and healthy. A beautiful bluebird to grace our wintery day. Cheers.

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  2. Merry Christmas, Elva & family!
    Oh, so beautiful painting. Absolutely masterpiece! Thank you. Take care and wish you a very happy new year!!
    Best wishes, Sadami

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  3. A very Merry Christmas to you both, Elva. And don't be afraid to stretch a little more, that is a lovely painting!

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  4. Merry Christmas Elva with this beautiful bluebird. If you want some real snow.....try Wisconsin, they have lots.

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  5. What a lovely, peaceful painting! Merry Christmas to you and yours, and thank you for sharing your beautiful work! I hope you don't mind a couple questions--When do you do the background wash--before or after the bird and fence post? Do you mask out the bird and snow?

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    1. I penciled, then put miskit on the subject (bird, snow, berries, twigs and outer edges of the fence post). The miskit is such a help when I want a juicy wash. I actually don't use it very often. when you see little peeks of white in the background, I probably didn't bother. .... so, then I do the background wash before painting the subject.

      In my last post, "Once Hidden," I only used miskit on the snow filled nest. That empty nest has the bits of white I'm talking about ... and like for a looser look. The cormorants are dark enough I don't think I used any miskit, but I did use a little white paint for the 'white-wash.'

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  6. This is lovely!! Makes me miss the misty winter mornings of Oregon. You captured it beautifully!! I can almost hear the bluebird flitting about to snag an old berry or two.

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