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“Saw-whet Owls” 3-24-08

Well, I finally had time to work on some small sketches in watercolor of Saw-whet owls. I did them in my small 5.5″ x 8.5″ Raffine sketchbook. I was inspired by the Owl Prowl I went on with the Buffalo Ornithological Society on March 15th. I did get some good photos to work from, but haven’t printed them out yet. These were done from very small pictures in field guides and a book I picked up on birds of prey.
I experimented with lifting color that I didn’t like…on the first owl (top first page) I had painted his eyes too close together. Now I’m a perfectionist, I thought, “I can leave it and just start another and call it practice”…but NO…so I wet the eyes, rubbed with my round brush, and pressed a clean paper towel on it, I repeated this over and over until I lifted a lot more than I thought I’d be able to! Then I let it dry and repainted it.
The little one under it I first drew with permanent ink first then colored it with watercolors. The page looked a little boring so I loosely painted green around the edges.
Page two, the owl on top came out nicely. I say that because as I started it, I didn’t like it very much. If I wanted to take more time and make it more detailed, I would add white to the face feathers with a guache or used liquid frisket to block it (retain white).
The little owl at the bottom is actually very tiny, it’s straight watercolor with no preliminary pencil drawing just like the others. It was so small I had trouble doing his pupils, they should be a tiny bit smaller so his eyes look wide open.
I really liked doing these little owl sketches! I love it’s coloring and it’s wide bright orange eyes!
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3 comments to “Saw-whet Owls” 3-24-08

  • Amalia

    Hi Mary. First time through. I love the owls, one of my favorite birds. Smiled when I read your profile. I’ve built fairie houses, but mostly mini log homes. Maybe I’ll take a few pics to show.

  • Mary McAndrew

    Hi Amalia,
    Thanks for the comments! I had so much fun going on the “Owl Prowl”..did you see my last post with photos? I want to do some actual paintings soon of them,not just sketches. I’ve been concentrating on my classes I’ll be teaching.
    I looked at your blog, nice start! Love the baby watercolor. You should add the comments capability to it.
    I can’t wait to teach the fairy class…I’ve even started a “Fairies in Your Backyard” blog…nothing on it yet, but it will be fun to put things up later.
    Mary
    ps. send me pics of your fairy houses,(even log) I can use some ideas!

  • Amalia

    Hello again. I added the comments feature – thanks! Also, I did see your photos. I think they are great. Updated my blog if you wanna take a peek.

    I’ll send pics of mini log and fairie homes soon and I’ll look out for postings on your new blog.

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