The Sparrow That Earned Its Wings

A small feathered muse at the end of a very big journey

Hello Crafty Friends!

Ever had a tiny bird take over your craft space, demand a week of your attention and somehow turn your brushstrokes into a full-blown adventure? Meet my Olive Sparrow! I’m absolutely delighted to share my homework for my final AECP Level 3 class: “Botanical Illustration Inspired Watercolor”  by the ever-amazing Jaycee Gaspar — a class that is equal parts inspiration, challenge and “how does he make it look so easy!?”

Before I jump in, a huge thank you to Erum Tasneem for pointing me toward this class and for cheering me on throughout this entire creative adventure. I will truly miss your encouraging words, Erum. Thank you so very much — your support has been such a gift.

Behold: a bird, a branch, and a week of nervous brush strokes — all safely landed on watercolor paper!

For this final project, I decided to get ambitious and apply Jaycee’s teachings to this sweet little bird: Arremonops rufivirgatus (yes, I looked that up — and yes, I may now randomly drop that into conversations just to sound smart). You might know him as an Olive Sparrow. Both the bird and branch he’s perched on are from the Rustic Charm Stamp Set.

Process-wise: I created a mask, stamped the bird in Permanent Mist Gray Pigment Ink (perfect for no-line watercoloring), masked it, then stamped the branch. And when they say “no-line,” they mean it — the ink is so faint that at one point the bird’s feet basically vanished and I had to improvise nature back into existence. Same with a few leaves. So if you’re comparing to the stamp set and thinking, “hmm… that leaf looks different,” yes — that’s called “artistic license” and I’m leaning into it.

I used my trusty Round 1 brush (from Altenew’s Fine Watercolor Brushes Set) for the entire painting, and let me tell you: that brush has now earned emotional support status. The painting took me a full week of nibbling away in every spare moment — wet on wet, wet on dry, a bit of color lifting and a whole lot of “don’t mess it up now” internal pep talks. The final brush strokes nearly gave me performance anxiety.

I’m genuinely happy with how my little bird friend turned out — the leaves and I, however, are still in ongoing negotiations. Growth area. We’ll get there.

A little closer, and you can see the color lifting, wet-on-dry brushstrokes and yes… the bird’s reinvented feet!

As for turning it into a card? Nope! This one is graduating straight to “wall-worthy.” I’ll probably frame it and keep it in my craft space as a reminder of just how far this journey has taken me (and of how far those leaves still have to go).

And the journey isn’t over yet — now comes the workshop portion of Level 3, which means you’ll definitely be hearing from me again. Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for visiting — see you again soon!