beautiful nature painting: sea dragons to sunsets

There are so many beautiful nature paintings to do. All of nature cries out to be painted.

Most of my life I have lived close to nature. The birds and bees, flowers and sunsets, plus all the lovely creatures are a pleasure and bring enjoyment.

Some of my favorite things to paint are butterflies and flowers. Then I have to do some of God's other beauties like dragonflies and fish.

"Bold Freedom"

One time my husband accidentally caught a sea turtle. He brought him home for me to see what he looked like.

We took him back to the water to let him go, when he saw the water, his flippers started going like crazy. I saw a tear coming out of his eye. I said, "Look he is crying."

We turned him loose and now he is out swimming in his "Bold Freedom". If that doesn't make you want to paint, I don't know what does!

beautiful nature paintings

Doing paintings of nature is such a joy. These paintings express that joy and admiration.

The wonders of nature are amazing! Come enjoy with me.

The beauties of nature are endless.

Watercolor was a great painting medium to paint these "Koi Partners".

The blue and green water is a perfect complement for the warm, colorful koi fish.

It was fun doing the swishes and water bubbles to make them look like they are swimming. You can learn how to paint watercolor, too!

Born Free

Painting is supposed to be fun. Why else would we paint?

It was getting old trying to do nature paintings like a photo. So, I changed it up a bit for the sake of freedom!

My dolphins were always painted with the dolphin's natural grey color. This time I painted them with the fun colors of pink and purple with turquoise water.

These dolphins are enjoying their new found freedom in "Born Free".

Northern Flicker

When we were living in a home with a tin roof. We started getting a "Northern Flicker" that came by every morning at the same time.

He would beat on our tin roof. He was staking out his territory to keep all the other flickers away. We started calling him our alarm clock!

God's gifts are amazing. This nature painting turned out gorgeous done with watercolors.

If you want to paint a hummingbird, check out the photos of different Types of Hummingbirds.

Leafy Sea Dragons

Leafy Sea-dragons are native on the coral reef of Australia. They are a quiet animal related to the Sea Horse.

They camouflage themselves in leafy appendages and wait for small fish to come by to suck them up. Can you find two "Leafies" in this painting?

Detail of "Leafies" There are lots of little fish swimming around the coral.

more nature paintings

I like to walk in the mornings when everything is clean and crisp. One time I kept seeing a Downy Woodpecker on the pine trees when I walked by every morning.

Downy on a Pine

Finally, I told my husband, I think it means I am supposed to add him to the paintings of birds. I'm going to paint him. I took some photos to figure out how to paint the pine bark and the Virginia Creeper that was turning red.

So, I did the "Downy on a Pine" with Virginia Creeper climbing up the tree. The red creeper leaves complimented the red on the Downy's head to make a beautiful nature painting.

Paddlin' Pelican

Pelicans are amazing birds. We got to feel one when we accidentally caught him while we were fishing.

They look large, but they actually don't weigh very much. They are very light weight. When we let him go, he paddled around looking at us, as if to say thank you.

The "Paddlin' Pelican" made one of my favorite bird paintings.

Free Food

The sport's fishermen can probably name a lot of the fish in this painting, Sheepshead, Red Snapper and Grouper to name a few.

There is a large variety of saltwater fish that are edible. After we get a boat, fuel it up and go out in the ocean fishing, I don't know how much "Free Food" they are?

But it made a nice watercolor painting.

Freedom Falls

Waterfalls make beautiful nature paintings.

"Freedom Falls" was fun to paint with all the brilliant fall foliage. Then the dark side of the rocky cliff made a perfect backdrop for the waterfall.

You can paint this waterfall with the step-by-step instructions.

Flamingos Feeding

Flamingos have a unique shaped bill made for scooping through the mud to filter out the critters to eat.

This oil painting of the pink “Flamingos Feeding” was a challenge for me.

I painted the upright ones just fine. Then when I got to their reflections, it was confusing. I found myself painting the reflections the same direction as the upright birds.

So, the problem was solved by turning the canvas upside down. Then the painting went smoothly.

Lily 'n' Dragonfly

Who doesn't love water with all the flora and fauna? This "Lily 'n' Dragonfly" made a perfect nature painting.

The contrast between the dark water and the bright waterlily with the dragonfly made it a beautiful painting.

There is such a variety of birds, from the soaring Condors to the tiny Bee Hummingbird. God outdid himself when he created "The Puffin"!

This bird is amazing with its outstanding colors and patterns on their head especially. What fun it was painting this unusual nature subject.

Sea Shells

While the weather was cool outside, I was dreaming of going to the beach.

And you know what we all do when we go to the beach - collect "Sea Shells" to take home for memories.

This is a watercolor painting is full of lots of memories.

Mother's Love

Giraffes are such amazing animals. They have interested me for years. I have put them in a number of nature paintings over the years.

Here is my latest giraffe painting of a mother giraffe showering "Mother's Love" on her baby.

You can do your own giraffe painting.

Koi Feeding

When I grew up, we had many outdoor ponds, as well as indoor aquariums for tropical fish. When we fed the fish, they would all swarm around the food to feed.

"Koi Feeding" is just what they look like when they are eating. My husband said the one with the white head is the ring leader. Lots of fun!

My mom went to a Gary Jenkins class where they painted Koi in a circle. Thank you, Gary for the idea, it made a beautiful nature painting.