Painting a Nesting Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I’ve only painted hummingbirds twice before, and both were commissioned pieces. One featured five males of different species in Arizona and the other two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. All were fun to paint, especially with those with bright metallic feathers! This bird … Continued
Painting American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts in Watercolor
I tried a different sort of background on this watercolor. All those dead mangroves and other trees made for a somewhat surreal background for these American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts. I got a lot of photo reference for this painting … Continued
Mendota (Bete Grise) Lighthouse in Watercolor and Ink: Painting + Time-lapse Video
I think I finally found a good use for that block of Arches Cold press Paper. Rather than trying to force it into doing detailed work, which it seems to resent, I’ll use the paper for looser ink and watercolor … Continued
Royal Tern Watercolor Painting on Cold Press Paper
When Your Paper Fights Back: Painting a Royal Tern in Watercolor In my last post, which featured a Laughing Gull, I mentioned that I’d only painted a couple of gulls prior to that, and no terns. I’m happy to report … Continued
Laughing Gull Watercolor Painting with Time-lapse
Despite painting birds in watercolor for years, I’ve only illustrated two types of gulls! Out of hundreds of pieces of art, that seems crazy. I’ve done a Herring Gull and a few Ring-billed Gulls, which could be renamed the “French … Continued
Brown Mantidfly: Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse Video
I’ve had some forced time off the bikes this past month. Usually I spend about nine hours a week on my mountain bikes. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, and having a bit of extra time, I started doing … Continued
Black-crowned Night Heron: Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse Video
When I was in grad school, I saw my first Black-crowned Night Heron during a trip to Everglades National Park. Until then, I didn’t realize I had been missing out on a spectacularly beautiful bird. You just didn’t run into … Continued
Winter-plumed Long-billed Dowitcher: Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse Video
Two shorebirds in a row! That seldom happens for me. I guess it’s less unusual after getting a ton of photos from a trip to Florida this winter. The photos I used for this painting of a winter-plumed Long-billed Dowitcher … Continued
Stretching Wilson’s Snipe Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse Video
Wilson’s Snipe is an interesting shorebird. In general, birds with mottled feathering like this pose a different sort of challenge to paint. Figuring out the logic to their patterns can lead to some confusion at first, but painting them offers … Continued
Black-throated Green Warbler Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse Video
Black-throated Green Warblers are great little birds. Here in Lansing we see them for a few weeks in the spring and fall as they migrate through. The southern edge of their breeding range starts not far from here but excludes … Continued