Owls in Watercolour 2017

Owl Collection in Watercolour 2017

Its' been another hectic week. It seems that everyone wanted to buy a painting recently and they all wanted it right now. From horse racing scenes to wildlife and florals, my paintings have been jetting off all over the world I am happy to say. There is nothing more wonderful than knowing that someone has desperately wanted a certain subject and a gallery can help with not only the sale, but sending the piece to the client as well. But this takes time, organisation and keeps me away from my brushes a little. But I am happy to say I am back in my studio and working on a new collection which will be in a solo exhibition in Hampshire this year. That is, if I can actually keep any of these paintings for the show. Perhaps it might be wise to ask if anyone reading my blog would like any of the paintings you see on line as they appear  you can contact me and I will put you in touch with the gallery to reserve a piece.

But back to my paintings. Right now I have a gorgeous collection of owl paintings on the go. I thought it would be fun to show you the early stages of the paintings on my easel.

First the beautiful eye of the owl below  says everything about this piece. The feather work is looking so pretty right now at this stage that I need to be very careful not to overwork it. I will add the detail for the beak, hints of the markings on the feathers and then see what the painting needs next. To be honest I would love one of my own paintings of owls for our cottage but they continually keep being bought. Perhaps this one will make it to my walls and no one will like it as much as me.

 

 Gorgeous eye detail in a new owl painting.

Next I have an idea in  my head to paint several young owls in a row. I started this piece by painting the "centre stage" subject of a young owl. Next I added the second youngster and a third baby owl will appear in the composition by Friday. I think. If the painting looks brilliant minus the third owl I may just leave this piece with two subjects rather than three.

 

Stage 1.  Single young owl

 Stage 2. A pair of young owls coming to life as a work in progress on my easel

I honestly cannot wait to complete this series. I adore painting eyes that shine like jewels. And for birds, the eyes feels even more important especially when working on gorgeous subjects like the above owls.

I often allow my imagination to run riot when I am working on wildlife compositions. From my window in my studio I see wildlife and birds regularly. So I am never short of subjects to paint either from life or the photos I have taken. While I was painting the above pieces I looked out of my window to see the below bird that has fluffed up its feathers to keep out the cold. Either that or it needs to go on a diet! I should  confess. We do feed everything that visits our home a little too well.

 Pigeon outside my studio this afternoon.

I just know I will be painting this!

Whatever you are doing I hope you are smiling and that my blog post made you smile a little too. Working on a series of paintings is often better than working on just one. It gives you freedom to express yourself differently each time you approach painting the same subject. Not only that but each time you paint the same subject you get better and better.

A good tip for today is " Never give up".

 Unless like the pigeon you need to stop doing something. In the pigeons case, over eating!

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Three Wise Owls

Owls at various stages of evolvement on my Easel

I am now firmly engrossed in writing my new book. I sleep thinking about each new chapter and, like  a child, I race excitedly to my studio each morning to work on the paintings that I left the day before. I discard ideas that, to me, are  too similar to anything I have ever painted or seen before. But I keep step by steps that I believe will be fascinaing, achievable and  interesting to follow. I want my next book to be so highly inspirational that this effect,  from writing it, is already brushing off on me.

I  feel as though I am a juggling three professions.  I wear my "Author" hat when I write. I wear my "Artist" hat when I work on gallery exhibitions, which I am doing today. And of course I wear my "Mentor" hat when I am organising or taking workshops. I rarely use the word "teacher" because the majority of artists coming to me are very talented in their own right and are mainly in search of inspiration. New artists coming to me want someone to guide them into this fantastic world of watercolour. A world I relish with  a strong passion.

My day has seen me responding to artists in Australia asking about my return there in 2014. I have been organising  the final details on my watercolour  tour in USA which starts this October.  And I have been inundated with requests for places on my 2014 UK workshops. So much so that I have added an extra course for artists who have never been on my sessions before. 

Would I change my life? Not in a million years! 

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2014 UK Workshop Update.

Information for my 2014 workshops in UK will be going out this Friday. There is still time to be added to my contact  list  if you email me on jeanhaines@hotmail.com  

Last year places filled very quickly, so please be quick when you recieve the details.

New Owl Collection with new techniques.

Baby Owl from a new collection of owl watercolours

It is incredible how popular my watercolours of owls have now become. Increasingly at exhibitions they are amongst the first of subjects to sell and in doing so are becoming collectible. At the moment my only available owl paintings are in my "Fur, Feathers and Florals" Exhibition which is running at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge, Hampshire,UK until 3rd August 2012.

My new collection won't be available until later this year.

I have a friend who has invited me to see baby owls on their land but I have been so busy that I haven't had time to  enjoy their beautiful little faces this year . 

If you are reading this Bridget you can see I am still inspired by one of my favourite bird subjects!

From writing "Atmospheric Watercolours" I have learned that I adore learning. I adore exploring and experimenting aiming to bring more than just a finished image onto paper. I want to capture emotion as well as the personality of the animals or birds that I work on. And I want each piece to be 100% unique. I cannot understand or relish the idea of painting the same subject in exactly the same way repetitively as that would kill my artistic soul.

This little owl is curious and their instinct to hunt is evident in their eyes. But they possess a vulnerability at this young age making them almost seem like prey also.

Life as an artist takes me from one amazing  day to the next. My brushes lead me to new joy and colour lightens my life regardless of the rain outside.

In my mind I have a million ideas to progress with this composotion or begin a new series of owls,all from one painting.

Life is great and I continually look forward to my tomorrows because they are all, always new and exciting!