Painting 27 - A is for Avocet

Happy September! As I drove through town today, I noticed some of the maple trees starting to look a little less green; a hint of yellow in their leaves. And the local meteorologists are claiming that the morning lows will dip below 40 F mid-week. Can this be possible already? Ah well, I've still got a couple more months before I have to dust off the snowshoes.

I know that I haven't posted any paintings in a while. I think I needed a mini-break to recharge my batteries. But hopefully Painting #27 will make you think I'm back with a bang. (I did paint a Number 26, but it was no great shakes, so you didn't miss anything.) I spent Labor Day laboring over this one. I did not use any masking fluid this time - it has caused me no end of headaches lately - so I chose to freehand this one. I think I did pretty well for my first venture into the wonderful world of lettering in watercolor. The concept for this painting has been floating around in the gray matter for a while. A friend had a baby shower over the weekend and while I was deciding what to make her, the idea of a ornithological ABC series popped into my head. ABC series have been done millions of times before, but I still like them. I ended up making a baby quilt for my friend, but the painting idea remained with me and I began to sketch and research and, well, here we are with the prototype! A little different style than my usual, but it is fun and refreshing to break away from the norm sometimes, not worry so much about being anatomically correct and just to get the essence of avocet down. Personally, I love the color scheme. I think it leans a little towards Halloween colors, which is just around the corner after all!

A HUGE Happy Birthday to Laure over at Painted Thoughts!!! She's being very hobbit-like and giving presents on her own birthday. Check it out!