I took reference photos of these barn swallows on the Marsh Boardwalk at Point Pelee National Park in Ontario. The swallows kept landing on this particular stick, and they were pretty much oblivious to my standing very close with the camera. They were much more focused on fighting over the prized perch, which made for some animated photos.
Often when setting out to do a painting, I try to set a goal for myself. Usually, it is a skill I’m hoping to improve. A great piece of advice I came across ages ago was from the virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai, but it equally applies to painting. Paraphrasing, he said something along the lines of “Work on your weaknesses until they become your strengths.” I’ve never been great at painting clouds in watercolor, so I thought it might be a good challenge to try some as a background. The range of blues would work well with the colors of the Barn Swallows.
In the past I made clouds quite easily by using an airbrush for the background. In those cases I’d often bring in gouache or opaque whites for the lighter colors. Creating clouds with standard watercolor brushes and washes is a very different skillset and one that I hoped to improve, so it was a good endeavor for this painting.
Knowing I needed significant practice on clouds, I set about doing a lot of tests—21 in fact—before I started to get in the ballpark of where I wanted to be. I’m still far from where I really want to be, so I’ll keep working on them. I remember my watercolor teacher in art school saying that you have to ruin a lot of watercolor paper before you get good at making consistent washes. That seems to be true of clouds as well.
Please contact me if you’re interested in buying the original or a print of this painting. Some of my work is also available for licensing.
