Great Blue Heron ~ "Solitude I" ~ "Oh, to Fly" ~ Watercolor Oh To Fly Painting youth means soft edges

Painting youth means soft edges

Cormorants are among the most ancient-looking birds alive — their angular silhouettes

they trade that intensity for a glide so smooth it barely disturbs the air

luminous color that glows from within the paper rather than screaming off the surface

Painted buntings are native to the American South

Great Blue Heron ~ "Solitude I" ~ "Oh, to Fly" ~ Watercolor Oh To Fly Painting youth means soft edgesThis great blue heron painting is a portrait of chosen solitude. "Solitude I" captures a heron standing alone in still water, perfectly content in its own company. Great blue herons are solitary hunters. They don't travel in flocks. They don't need the reassurance of other birds. That self sufficiency is what drew me to paint this moment the beauty of a creature that is genuinely complete on its own. I painted this freehand on archival cotton rag