30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Eight

"Chickadees, Chess, Checkmate" LWatry©2014

Day 28 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge. I chose to tackle a painting that I thought would be a lot of work and time. But, after I got going on it, I found my process of painting the chess pieces and moved along fairly quickly.

The chess set is a huge human size set from a photo I took on vacation. So, I have shrunk it down to work with the chickadees. I decided to try Quinacridone Burnt Orange for the main color in the brown pieces and I loved working with it. It is a very vibrant color and I didn't have to do many layers because of that.

I chose to have the background be a bright blue and some of the blue reflects into the lighter areas of the chess pieces.

The chickadee that is flying adds a bit of motion to an otherwise static scene.


"Chickadees, Chess, Checkmate" is a 6"x6" watercolor and is available on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Fourteen

"Chickadees and Chain" LWatry©2014

Day Fourteen of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I chose to paint a close up of three Chickadees sitting on a bike chain. I used my husbands bike as the bike source.

If you are wondering how I accomplished this image, I took a picture of the bike and its shadow. Then using my photo software, I added the chickadees from photos that I had taken of each of them in my backyard.

I like the mostly neutral or gray painting with the bright splash of red for a pop of color. I don't use tube grays. I mix all of my grays for an interesting variety.

"Chickadees and Chain" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.