Mallard In Flight

I have been wanting to paint a bird again. The talented photographers from paintmyphoto post stunning pictures of birds to tempt artists like us to use them as reference images. I have utmost respect for them in sharing their images, especially when there is no way I can take such action shots. I am also indebted to them for giving me the inspiration to paint birds when I never even considered the possibility of doing it. I thought I would quietly be lulled into complacency with painting mostly floral.

9 by 13 inches on 140 lb. Kilimanjaro

Reference photo by Rodney Campbell from paintmyphoto.ning.com

Spunkster

I finished this painting last week. Life kept me away from posting it. I did this painting on 11 by 14″ watercolor paper. I rarely paint larger than 9 by 12 inches. I was scared that I would paint rooster too tightly if ever I attempt to do a rooster painting. That dissuaded me from trying to paint a rooster. Luckily,I happen to get a not-so-sharp reference photo. The blurriness really helped me.

Here is a wip photo, the ugly stage in a watercolor painting:

11 by 14 inches  on 140 lbs Kilimanjaro CP watercolor paper

Reference photo by Abner Ibarra

Kingfisher

I tried to do this painting in a loose style. I had to constantly remind myself to let go of the details and free myself from the burden of tightening up. As a starting point, I think I did a fairly good job. Also, this is my first painting of a bird. Hope to paint more birds in the future.

Photo courtesy of  Gary Jones  from Paint My Photo

5 by 7 inches in Strathmore 500 Watercolor paper.