Written by We’ve reached the end of the month, which also marks the end of our January art challenge. I hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as I have, and I definitely hope you’ll all be joining me for the February Art Challenge happening now! For our final prompt of “Rainbow,” I thought it was the perfect time to sketch a set of rainbow finches, also known as Gouldian finches. While I always like to paint with a range of bright colors, nature often paints with an impossibly colorful palette. Birds comes in so many wonderful colors, so that’s why I love to paint them so much. And, if you’re looking for an interesting new set of colors for your next sketch, nature is there with lovely suggestions of color combinations that are always guaranteed to be beautiful. While, I might fumble now and again when it comes to color pairings, nature always gets it right. It’s my second color wheel of sorts, and where I get most all of my color ideas, even if I’m painting something manmade. It makes coloring so much more fun!
I’m always a bit sad to see a challenge month end as I’ll miss some artists who will have moved on to other things, but there’s always new folks who appear each month as well. And that’s very exciting! Since I paint every single day, one might think there’s not much difference from one month to the next. But, that’s been my secret from the beginning to keeping my art habit new and interesting. I don’t stress over a long extended goal of what I want to do this year. I just take my little art journey one happy month at a time. And like a little kid, I get so thrilled when a new month and challenge begins! It feels like a fresh start all over again. It’s totally a mental game I play with myself, but it works every single time. February 1st, in truth, marks 1,675 days of consecutive daily sketching, but I still treat it like it’s simply day one. I have to do a bit of math each time to figure out the real number at this point. And math is not really my thing. Instead, I’m just so thrilled for the next 29 days ahead!
Oh yeah, it’s a leap year so there’s an extra day in February this year. If anyone out there was born on leap day, then this is your month! If so, that’s super awesome, because it’s apparently quite rare. Tonight, Philippe and I are having pizza so that should be fun. Philippe got all new tires put on the car, so hopefully all issues there will be fixed for awhile. And, after a thoroughly busy week, I’m thrilled to be heading into the weekend. We have nothing planned, which makes me really happy. It’s wonderful to start a weekend and have no idea what’s coming next. It means there will be nothing but little surprises, which is my favorite thing indeed. I think that’s also my favorite bit about how I approach my sketching habit. I haven’t planned a thing for how I’ll approach the start of February. But, one thing’s for sure. I’m ready to find out. After pizza night, of course, and an evening of bing watching something or other for a bit. Then, I’ll head to bed and wake up refreshed and ready to experience the beginning of a new adventure, filled with a rainbow of colors!
Want To Sketch Stuff With Me? Check Out My Activity Book!
About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Turquoise, Indigo, Terra Cotta and Ultramarine (Green Shade). Staedtler Pigment Liners in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop! |
 |
|
Beautiful finches! Enjoyed the January prompts and looking forward to February!
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕Glad you enjoyed them! Here’s to a fun and wonderful February!
These birds are beautiful! I’d love to meet them in person.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕I’m not sure I’ve ever met these birds in person. I would love to as well!
Great job on the beautiful rainbow birds !
Thanks so much, Sherrill! 😃💕Glad you enjoyed them!
Beautiful way to do rainbow!!! I love all the animals you have been doodle washing!!! fabulous!!! Here is to another wonderful month of creating!!!! 🙂
Thanks so much, Lisa! 😃💕 hehe… yeah, I don’t do landscapes, so I have to get a bit creative on those prompts. Yay for February!
Beautiful birds Charlie! I’m just getting home from a celebration with my husband. I landed a three month exhibit of paintings that I have not painted yet and I have less than a month to complete about 15 large florals. I’m excited and so far outside my comfort zone that my adult voice is screaming. A salmon dinner helped temporarily. I have a smaller exhibit to hang tomorrow evening and free time disappears for a bit. Deadlines are good right? 🥺
Thanks so much, Karen! 😃💕 Deadlines are awesome! They help us prove to ourselves just how wonderful we really are! 😉 Congrats and just ignore that adult voice as it’s terribly unhelpful most times. You can totally DO this!
Aren’t they pretty birds? In truth, I’ve always kind of hated February. It seems the hump to get over to move into longer days and blessed spring! And then to add insult to injury, they add an extra day on every four years ! But the good news this year is I heard the weatherman say that Sunday is supposed to be warmer and sunny for the first time in ages! Yeah, February!
They are such lovely birds! I’ve been wanting to sketch them for some time! 😃💕 And yeah, February is an odd month indeed. Even at its shortest, it’s just a barrier to spring. But, yes, our Sunday is going to be spring temps and sunny here as well, so yay!
I don’t have anything planned for the week-end, except hubby has been hinting about chocolates so maybe a visit someplace chocolaty. Enjoy your pizza and have a fabulous week-end.
Someplace chocolaty sounds like perfect plan! DO that! hehe Hope you have a wonderful weekend! 😃💕
Beautiful birds, loved january and looking forward to Feb:)
Thanks so much, Claire! 😃💕 Can’t wait to see what you’ll make this month!
Lovely flock. I wasn’t smart enough to think outside the rainbow box. I painted a rainbow. Lol And I did my tiger. 😉
Thanks, Lori! 😃💕 And they were beautiful! I just had to think outside the box for this one, as I was itching to sketch more creatures! hehe
Maybe that cake is going to be one of the surprises. May your weekend be all you need.
So true!! hehe… spoiler alert, in my post today, I found out I am going to get that cake! yay! 😃💕 Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Im doing a Happy Dance for you, and then I may have to bake a cake myself! ENJOY IT Charile.
Thanks! And yeah, you totally need to bake a cake for yourself! Yum! 😉
Your ‘rainbow of colors’ are a joy. It is 6:30 a.m. and I feel invigorated…
thanks to your paintings and articles. They are better than vitamins!
What a sweet thing to say! Thanks, Sarah! 😃💕 You’re better than a vitamin to me my friend! You make me want to write and illustrate more, which is no small gift.
Hi Charlie, love the finches, so colorful and I could almost hear them sing. Have a beautiful weekend with Phillipe and Phineas.
Thanks so much, Janet! 😃💕Hope you and yours have a fabulous weekend as well!
Lovely birds and lovely idea.
Thanks so much, Linda! 😃💕
Great stuff Charlie! I have so enjoyed your work and stories this month. I found it a struggle to keep up but am hoping can make up in February. Thank you all for being so encouraging and to you Charlie a special Thank you for the ongoing inspiration!
Thanks so much, Susan! 😃💕 I’ve been loving what you’ve shared! And you’ve kept up more than most! So, that’s awesome! It’s really just about DOing more… nothing as precise as every day, that’s too prescriptive… hehe. I figure if I can just inspire folks to do a bit more, they’ll get as hooked as I am now and couldn’t imagine a single day without making art!
Your birds are amazing and colorful! Thank you for all your encouragement..I was actually able to finish this month and am looking forward to the next! Great stuff keep it up!!
Thanks so much, Priscilla! 😃💕Yay to completed the full challenge! That’s awesome! And I’m so excited you’re continuing… I get secretly sad when people leave to other places. I want my friends to keep playing with me! 😉
Lovely birds. I only managed two paintings in January. But I have high hopes for February because I signed up for watercolor lessons.
Thanks, Laura! 😃💕Yay for two paintings!! That’s just so cool, right? Anything we make is always so awesome. That’s how I’ve always felt, but yeah, you know me… inner child and all. When I first started this blog I posted my brush tests because I thought they were cool abstracts. I was, and still am darn proud of every little line I draw and bit of paint I splash. And you should be as well! It’s always beautiful! 😉
Thanks, Charlie. I don’t know why I feel so much trepidation about water color painting. All the other crafts I have tried I jumped in with both feet. I appreciate your encouragement.
Might because people always say watercolor is so hard… hehe… it’s really just fun and can be as easy as you make it or difficult if you’re trying an advanced technique! 😉