Bluebirds and Berries Drawing Demonstration

Lots of birds are visiting our neighborhood eating all the plums off the trees.  

We mostly have sparrows, robins, and another grey/black bird I couldn't find the name of in my book.  But I wanted bluebirds in my drawing.   I bought a few "Le Pen" pens by Marvy at

the art store the other day and they bleed nicely with watercolor.  As I put the watercolor on the bird the surrounding berries and branches started to bleed color and mix nicely.  Just a little water to control the amount.   

I used the brown pen and it has a nice burgundy purple color.  I put a little water on a #4 brush and lightly painted the berries and branches throughout the drawing.  I painted the birds first and then the berries and branches to get more colors to blend.  

Add a little more water for darker color in some of the berries.   I scanned this drawing in as it is so I could have two different drawings to use in my cards, stickers and such.  I liked the botanical look of this one.   

I brought the drawing back to my table and used grey and a little cobalt for a wintery sky and again let the pen color blend in places.

I left a blank spot for a greeting card message.  I went outside for a bit while the drawing was drying and all the plums were gone off the branches and so were the birds.  However, a big fluffy black and white cat was visiting our backyard . . . a little late.  He didn't stay long, hopped the fence and headed home or to find the birds.    

 

The finished drawing.  These pens are fun to use if you plan on them bleeding for effect.  I have an orange pen, a nice burgundy, and an indigo blue I'm looking forward to trying to see what they look like with watercolor.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!