HUNTING BARN OWL

I started this watercolor painting near the end of last year but only finished it this week! As is usual for me, I began with sketches and a small pre-study in my sketchbook. Everything went well in the planning stage, I was happy with the colors and composition and couldn't wait to start the actual painting. After stretching a smooth piece of (hot-pressed) Arches watercolor paper onto a board, I laid in the first of many background washes. Then after adding the grasses and trees, things began to go astray and the work got further and further away from my initial idea. I'm not sure why this happened but simply following along with the process usually brings about resolution with the work. In this case, it was simply spending enough time with the painting propped up in my lounge so that I could see where to go with it next. There was more to the work at the bottom that I simply cropped away and this did help somewhat. After I had completed the landscape, I made a small cut-out of a barn owl in flight then moved it around the painting until I found what was for me the most pleasing position then it was painting in. Hunting barn owl is 7" X 7".