Getting to see Baltimore orioles right outside your kitchen window is just about as good as it gets. The past few years we have been treated to orioles that come to our jelly feeder. We previously had tried putting out oranges and grapes without much success in luring in these gorgeous birds. We started putting out grape jelly and hit the jackpot. It always seems that the first birds to find the jelly are the catbirds, who get outnumbered be the orioles later. In the spring we will have the occasional male and females stop by. Once the young fledge we get the whole family devouring the jelly. That never gets old. We have a variety of bird friendly native trees that we have planted supplying fruit as well. Our serviceberry, dogwood, ninebark and viburnum bushes keep the birds very happy, but the real draw is the mulberry trees.
Original painting is available here.
Kathleen
This was useless to me because I needed a easy step to step drawing of a northern oriole not a hard
step to step drawing. So you need to make this easier for the kids who are out there.
Matt
Kathleen,
Sorry if this proved frustrating for your child. Art should always be fun. I never claimed it was a beginner tutorial in watercolor, merely a Step-by-step through the process I used to create the artwork. I think people of different levels can benefit by looking at the process others take to get a result and learn from it. Although I’ve been professionally illustrating for over twenty years, I still learn a lot by watching others and seeing their process.
I think it is very similar to mastering musical instruments. I’ve played guitar for 30+ years, the mandolin for 10 or so and just started playing the violin a little over a year ago. I can play vary advanced pieces on the guitar, but could never play the same things on the violin. I aim a little lower and am pleased with smaller results at first.
I’ve come across many tutorials for beginner watercolor out on the web. Although they may not be specific to Baltimore Orioles, I’d imagine the basic approaches would be very transferrable. I wish you both great success with the future paintings.
Matt