A painting of a Canadian goose

Skip the Mid-life Crisis and add some creativity to classic ‘Granny Hobbies’

As a 30-something, I’ve read countless articles blaming my generation for single-handedly killing everything from fabric softener to golf. The latest on this list of slain capitalist deities is the ‘Mid-life crisis’. It is said that people around my age are skipping it and going right to the ‘Granny Hobby’ stage. Regardless of your age, if you find yourself ready to pick up a new hobby, here are some popular ‘Granny Hobbies’ to try out:

Bird Watching

Bird Watching in Minnesota

The hobby of bird watching has been gaining traction in recent years. In my home state of Minnesota for instance, there’s blogs that share tips for attracting a variety of birds that call this place their home. Minnesota also has an extensive system of regional and state parks that make it possible to observe birds in their natural environments.

Watercolor Painting

Painting Birds in Watercolor

After bird watching, the next natural step for the artists in the room is to find a way to express the beauty of birds in art. Painting birds sounds like a challenge with all the variations in shape and colors. Although every bird species has its own unique challenges when rendering, here are some general tips when it comes to painting birds in watercolors.

The whites aren’t white, and the blacks aren’t black

Many birds have feathers that appear white as snow or black as coal. However, if your goal is to make a realistic painting, the best strategy is to create your own shades of black and white instead of relying on the stock colors.

  • For white feathers: These feathers will be tinted with either blue or brown. If you’re using watercolor like me and your set comes with white, try mixing in the other color to get the correct hue. Otherwise, create a light wash over the ‘white’ feathers by diluting the paint with clean water.
A painting of a gold finch sitting on a branch.

This goldfinch has colors in it that appear black and white, but are actually mixed from other colors.

  • For black feathers: Create a more dimensional black by mixing a cool color (ultramarine blue or Viridian green) with a brown (burnt sienna or raw umber). You will end up with a color that looks and feels like a black on the page, but has more dimension to it than the one you get out of the tube.

Don’t dull your ‘sparkle’

By ‘sparkle’, I mean ‘colors’. Many beginners make the mistake of mixing straight black into a bright yellow or red, only for it to result in a muddy hue. Instead, try mixing your bright color with indigo, raw umber, or burnt sienna. If your set contains none of these colors, mixing the color’s compliment will result in a darker hue.

The complementary color is what’s on the opposite side of the color wheel. Here’s some examples: Red and Green, Orange and Blue, Yellow and Purple.

A painting of a cardinal sitting on a branch

The shadows in this cardinal are created by adding alizarin crimson and burnt sienna to vermillion.

Learn more about complimentary colors and more beginner-friendly art advice

Make things easier

That saying about ‘you being your own worst critic’ is true when it comes to making art. If it’s for a hobby or you’re just learning, don’t be so hard on yourself. Painting and art-making is harder than it looks, so if you’re just taking up this hobby, it’s okay to make things easier for yourself. Instead of drawing a bird free-hand, you can trace your reference picture. Printing the photo in both black and white and color is also helpful for color and value matching. 

Keep in mind that at the end of the day, this is just a hobby for your own enjoyment. It doesn’t have to turn out perfect as long as you had fun during the process.

More ideas to try

Save this list of more ‘Granny Hobbies’ to try

  • Baking
  • Collecting (cards, stamps, Star Wars figures, etc.)
  • Couponing
  • Crocheting/Knitting
  • Gardening
  • Playing an instrument
  • Quilting
  • Scrapbooking
  • Woodworking

Happy creating!!