#30paintingsin30days Challenge-Day 4

Today totally didn't go as planned which seems typical lately.

I don't mention it much on here that I am a mom of 3 kids(ages 16, 14 and 9).  I also don't mention either how I homeschool all three of them due to various learning disabilities.  I'm just throwing it out there in case anyone is wondering why I always act like I'm so busy all the time.   I AM!

It can be difficult if not downright impossible for me to paint or create every single day while I am doing what I am doing as a mom right now.  I feel like I walk a very fine line between doing what I want to do for self-fulfillment vs. my responsibilities as a mother.  Sometimes when I etch out that time for just myself, I end up feeling guilty for not being attentive 100 percent to my children.  I kind of felt that way while reading out of my daughter's environmental science book to her this afternoon.  My mind was wandering as I thought about making time for my painting challenge and thinking about what I wanted to paint today.  The struggle is REAL!

I had the schedule for today all worked out and then I had to take my dog to vet.  She looks like she has pink eye and the vet pretty much confirmed that.  So I jumped from homeschooling kids to taking dog to emergency vet appointment to painting today's painting before I made tacos for dinner.

What I am happy about is how excited I was today about painting today's subject as opposed to the "Pear Study" yesterday that felt very tedious to me.  Reference photo is from MorgueFile which is a free image repository for artists to use as reference materials.  I saw this photo and knew that it would look great cropped down into a square.

This photo makes me happy. Birds make me happy. Crows can make me happy because they are just so darn smart!  I love seeing those videos of people who have domesticated wild crows and the crow ends up babysitting their kids in the backyard while it sits in a tree.

I used my artistic license to change the background because I love how powerful the color red oxide is against the color black.  I was surprised that the crow's eye was not brown which led me into some internet research.  I discovered that young crows can have blue eyes like our subject above. Hence, the name I chose for the title.

"Young Crow", Acrylic on Wood, 6"x6".

"Young Crow" is available to purchase through Daily Paintworks.  Click here for the link!

Thanks for stopping by and I promise not to be so whiny tomorrow!