The reason I paint so many birds is that I find the beautiful and interesting. However, there is another secret. Nobody really knows what a particular bird is supposed to look like. If the beak is wrong or the eye slightly misplaced, nobody knows. You can make a lot of painting mistakes and still end up with a nice picture.
I really enjoy birds of prey. The action in this owl was interesting. The picture must have been taken at night and the bird was startled. The texture in the feathers was interesting to paint.
I have always liked herons, egrets and other wading birds. They have such amazing feathers and yet stay so clean in some of the messiest environments.
One thing that this painting does not share is how large these birds actually are. It is also interesting how they fly so low along the water among the weeds that you frequently hear them flying by without being able to see them.
I just enjoyed painting the feathers. I like the rich colors and the textures.
I am not sure who is the star of this painting, the bird or the log.
A “Hawaiian Cardinal” that we saw on Oahu. It really is a Brazilian Taneger that came to Hawaii quite some time ago. We found him in the parking lot outside of a Kentucky Fried Chicken. My wife took the picture and I painted him in our granddaughter Tansy’s hospital room. She like to watch me paint when she was too sick to do anything else.
One of the things that I miss about moving back to Utah is the cardinals and the fireflies. Little bursts of brightness.
Just a little puff of blue feathers.
This is my favorite painting so far. Oil still works the best for me. I like the way the colors came out. I like they way the seem to like and take care of each other.
Kingfishers are pretty little birds. This is one of my early attempts at watercolor. It is a hard medium to control. I think I still like oil better.
