TIP-TOE THROUGH THE TULIPS

When we drove in and parked by the garden we discovered we were being raided.

I'd spent the afternoon digging up weeds and trimming my rose bushes.  When I was through, I'd turned on the sprinkler long enough to give everything a good drink.

We live next to a canal and our neighborhood ducks had discovered the fresh dirt and the food exposed by all my fluffing around.  DH complained the ducks were stealing his fishing worms.

I snapped a few shots with my cell phone before we got out of the car and went inside.

The drake and his wife realized they'd been discovered and tried to blend in.

I got my camera and took a few more photos of the thieves in my garden.

They soon had their fill of bugs and worms and then helped themselves to the seeds the other birds had tossed out of the nearby bird feeder.

They seemed to be pretty pleased with themselves and weren't in any rush to return to their nest building along the canal.  It has been a busy day for all of us.

STREET MUSICIANS

While driving Highway 101 through Oregon last summer,

DH and I happened upon a Farmer’s Market in Coos Bay, Oregon.  The produce was lush, the aroma from the food enticing and the crafts were first-rate.

A group of young men were entertaining the crowd with their music.

They looked a little road-weary and maybe hungry.

 Their tunes were enjoyable and they were collecting a fair amount of cash in their open guitar case.

 Using my photos for reference I put together a sketch for a watercolor painting.

I transferred the sketch to watercolor paper and dropped in some neutral colors for a background.

When I started adding details, I decided to brighten up the overcast day 

and, since I’ve been reading up on Van Gogh lately, I modified the colors to more yellows, golds and blues.

 On my first try I made things pretty muddy and dark so with this attempt I built up the values a little at a time.

The guys would probably not appreciate my cleaning them up and changing out their gray hoodies but I think this look goes better with their music.

This and many more of my paintings are for sale at Watercolors by Leenie.

Click here for a really rough video I shot with my cell phone.