Look Cranes!!!

That’s what I always say when I see sandhill cranes. I see them, I grab my phone, and I take tons of pictures. Then I tell myself I need to paint these amazing birds. Then I don’t.

Then I hit “repeat” because I see cranes again, then I yell out that fact, look for my phone, and take more pictures. So I had to break the cycle. I also needed to get my watercolors out again. It’s been a year. Let’s paint some cranes!!!

I got my paper out, reference photos, paint and water. Ready to paint; I painted. Then I threw that sheet away and started again. This is my second effort. I enjoyed painting the cranes but what do I do with the background. I know you should start with the background first. (It says that in all of the art books.)

My friends gave me different suggestions for backgrounds but I ended up loving the blades of grass the best. I thought it made the painting look contemporary. Can’t explain why, but I like using a word that has more then two vowels. Contemporary. It makes me feel like a big time artist.

So here are my cranes. I call them “My Three Stars”.