Monthly Archives: May 2009

Lake Katherine Wildlife

Posted on May 21, 2009 | 3 Comments

Lake Katherine is a quiet little nature oasis in the middle of Palos Heights, IL. It’s a nice get-a-way when you’re strapped for time, I just love it! Some features are: waterfall, lake, herb garden, butterfly garden, veggi garden, designated prairie area, trail around the lake, and a trail all along the Cal-Sag river. Wildlife loves it too! This is where I spotted the night heron that we painted last year.

Here are some pictures from the other day:

Not only is there wildlife, but the wildlife is quite comfortable around humans. They see them walking around everyday, so they don’t mind getting real close!

I mean realllly close!
Hello Mr. Nice Goose. Don’t mind me. I’m just hangin’ out, I do you no harm!

If you take the time to look carefully you will see some astonishing things. I always wonder that. There are many, many joggers and fast pace walkers….Do they slow down enough to notice the little things? I too was walking fast for the cardio aspect but soon became frustrated that I was missing out on incredible stuff!

You may not notice something incredible in this photo if you were running by. I’ll let you in on the secret…there is a sleeping swan to the right and to the left there are large eggs in a circular pattern. At first I thought it was the swan’s eggs, but when I returned a few days later I noticed a goose sitting on top of those eggs.

Here is a close up of those gorgeous eggs. It’s incredible how an animal can lay out it’s young right there in plain daylight and survive. Think about it, so many eggs are hidden from view; inside tree cavities, inside birdhouses, inside deeply constructed nests, a strategy to insure safety and success. These however are naked.
Amazing how nature works.

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Posted in Birds, Chicago, goose, nature, swan, wildlife

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Let’s Paint the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak!

Posted on May 17, 2009 | 1 Comment

Remember my lovely visitor Mr. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak? Well I think you will be surprised at how easy he is to paint! No really, it will be easy..I promise.

Here is our reference picture:

Let’s do what we love to do best…paint nature! When life deals you a crappy hand and things aren’t going your way, escape in art. Paint your way out of a bad mood. Not that you’re in a bad mood…but just in case it happens, here is your release…

Step 1: Make a rough sketch on 140lb watercolor paper (this will be a watercolor painting). Never fret about exact lines. If you want exact, take a picture. We want artistic style…your personal artistic style and that will surely come out on it’s own. Remember this isn’t work, this is play!

Step 2: With a gray-blue watercolor paint, paint the belly, under the wing, and the shadow of the beak. Remember to leave spots white, don’t cover everything! We need to breath.

Step 3: Make a “black” watercolor mixture out of indigo blue, crimson, and green. In this picture the paint was not totally dry (above the beak is shiny and that is why) but you can see some purple and you can see some spots that look blue. We want that! If you use a black watercolor from a tube of paint you will not get that kind of variation. Everything will look one color and lifeless. 

Step 4: OH YEAH…HERE WE GO! Drop that red color that he’s known for! He looks like a rose-breasted grosbeak already and we only did 4 steps!!!
Notice the eye in this step looks rounder than step 3. That’s because I took a clean bristle brush with water and went over that eye to make it smooth and not jagged. Sooo easy! I’m having so much fun, how about you?
Now, look at his claws. They aren’t perfect. In my picture they arn’t perfect either. Should I throw this painting in the trash because it’s not “perfect”? HECK NO! People who need to be perfect all the time scare me anyway! I’m representing his claws with my artistic license! I’m happy.

Step 5: Here I filled in his eye and beak. His “black” body got another coat to make him even darker. Don’t forget, watercolor always dries lighter, you may need several layers.

Step 6:The background….dun, dun, DUNNN! I wanted a loose and suggestive background. In my reference picture he is sitting at my bird feeder. However, I wanted him a more natural setting. I totallymade this background up! I wet the paper, painted some blue for the sky, while wet, added a few twigs and green leaves. See, you can do it too! You don’t have to stick to the script. Improvisation in art is very acceptable.

Step 7 Final: I added a little black micron pen #3 for added pop! He’s looking right at you!

“Mr. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak”
image: 6.5×4.5
white mat outside dimensions: 10×8
$35.00

This original watercolor painting is only $35.00! Click here to purchase, it will bring you to my site of available watercolor paintings.

I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step watercolor demonstration on how to paint a rose-breasted grosbeak!

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Posted in art, Artwork, Birds, rose breasted grosbeak, step by step painting

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Hen and Chicks Sketch

Posted on May 14, 2009 | 5 Comments
Hen and Chick Sketch

Did you ever find yourself at work dreaming about 50 million other things you would rather be doing? Well, that’s me Monday through Friday…50 weeks out of the year! When I daydream it’s pretty much the same thing….nature and art, nothing much else! So the other day I raced home to sit in my backyard and paint. Ooooo how much fun! I decided to do a quick sketch of my new toy, a potted Hen and Chicks item I bought at Menard’s (my favorite home builders store) for only 10 bucks.

As I painted I heard a loud “SPLAT!” inches away from my right leg.
“What in the world?” I asked.
I looked at the ground and a huge white liquid-y puddle coated the grass. Then I looked up and RIGHT ABOVE my head was a beautiful hawk, sitting on a walnut tree  branch! There must have been a slight wind because I have no clue how I didn’t get it right on my head!

Whew!

Anyway, this pot sits on top of a tree’s cross section in my rock garden. It was done with Winsor & Newton travel watercolor kit and Micron black pens #03 and #05.  

It was well worth almost getting bombed by the hawk when nature called!

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Posted in art, Artwork, Birds, nature, Nature Sketching, sketchbook

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Let’s Paint the White Trout Lily!

Posted on May 10, 2009 | 6 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. For your present, I am going to show you how to paint a white trout lily! Here we go….

First I’ll show you my reference photo that I took in the Palos Woods, part of Cook County’s Forest Preserve District, a few weeks ago. How delicate and soft this little spring wildflower is!
Why do we have spring wildflowers that disappear so quickly? They disappear quickly because they grow when the tree’s leaves have not fully developed yet. Think about it….there is a lot of sunlight on the forest floor before those leaves grow. When the leaves do grow, they block out the sun and prevent many flowers from growing. That’s why it’s sooo important to get out there and hike in the spring, every weekend, to see the lovely ephemeral flowers that fade so fast! Well, we are going to paint the white trout lily in watercolors so that when it does disappear we won’t have to wait until next year to see it again!

Step 1:Draw a quick sketch of the lily on watercolor paper. I use 140lb cold-press watercolor paper because I use a lot of water and lighter papers won’t hold up. I pretty much like the reference photo how it is, so that’s exactly how I sketched it. 

Step 2: Because the lily is white, I want my background to be really dark. I decided to work on the background first, therefore I had to protect the flower and leaves with masking fluid. When using masking fluid here is a trick…wet your brush, dip it into the masking fluid, paint your masked out subject while counting to 10, clean your brush, repeat. Clean your brush every 10 seconds. Masking fluid will destroy your brushes fast!!! Make sure you keep cleaning your brush and you will be fine.

Step 3: Make a dark wash for the background (indigo blue, crimson, a little sap green). Because watercolors dry light, you will need a few layers of dark paint. While the background was wet, I took the side of a paper towel and pulled paint to suggest grasses in the back.

Step 4: The background is not dark enough for me so after the last step dried, I added indigo blue around the flower and stem.

Step 5a: OH NO! LOOK! After the background dried I lifted up the masking fluid and found jagged edges! The leaf nor the petals have jagged edges! Is the painting ruined? Should I throw it out and decide never to paint again? OH COURSE NOT! No worries, here is how you fix that….

Step 5b: Take a clean wet bristle brush and go over those edges. You will have to repeatedly clean your brush several times. LOOK we saved it! We can still be an artist! :)

Step 6: Next I worked on the leaves. I first painted the leaf a basic light green. While barely wet, I added darker green/brown spots. Remember to leave white space for breathing room. A touch of red/brown is needed for the stem. 

Step 7 Final: Next I painted the flower. Remember white is never just white. It is a little light blue, or maybe a little light pint. Even snow has color to it! This beautiful white flower had pink, blue, yellow and green!

White Trout Lily in the Palos Woods
original watercolor by Christine Kane
image 6.4×4.5
outside mat dimensions: 10×8
$40 includes shipping

Click here to purchaseit will take you to my “watercolors for sale” site. You do not need paypal to purchase, you can use a credit card.

I hope you enjoyed this watercolor step by step of the spring wildflower, white trout lily!

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Posted in art, Artwork, nature, Nature Sketching, step by step painting

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Snake in the Woods Sketch

Posted on May 7, 2009 | 6 Comments

“You’re such a snake!”

Why does the idea of a snake conjure fear and evil? Could it be the story of Adam and Eve? The snake is the bad guy in that scenario, but don’t be fooled…evil can take the form of anything…good or bad…and the snake is a creature made by the Creator too. While I wouldn’t cuddle up with one or have one as a pet…they are fascinating in their own habitat…the Palos Woods!

In the Palos Woods, part of Chicago’s Cook County Forest Preserves, this snake scared a hiker, a scream was emitted, and the hiker scared the snake which took cover under a log. After much laughter, I uncovered the log that the snake took cover under and took this picture. Poor little guy. All coiled up and protecting himself…I do you no harm…ever!

All I want to do is paint you!

This little sketch took me about 20 minutes. Real quick. It is a great example of negative painting. Do you remember what that is? It is when you paint the outside of your subject.
I do not know exactly what type of snake this is, but when I sketch it I learned it intimately. I now know that his triangular spots are in an alternate pattern. This must be a key to his identification. My painted spots were not counted out and not exact. If I were illustrating for a biology book it would have been exact, but I am painting for my own fun and I am not worried about being perfect.

Never worry about being perfect…you’re valued the way you are!

If any smart biologist can identify this snake, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

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Posted in art, Artwork, Chicago, nature, Nature Sketching, sketchbook, wildlife

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