Fishy Four Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse
After all the detail in the Fox Sparrow and Frost’s Bolete painting, I thought I’d do some more crazy fish.
Crested Coua Pencil Sketch p88
Crested Coua are spectacularly beautiful birds from Madagascar. In this case it was from the Toledo Zoo’s bird house. It fails a little as a pencil drawing because you miss the spectacular purples, pale blues and aqua colors around the eyes. This … Continued
Fox Sparrow and Frost’s Bolete Transparent Watercolor and Time-lapse
Fox Sparrows are beautiful and entertaining birds. I tend to see them only in the spring and fall, but when I do get a peek at them, I always get excited. They are chunky birds with beautiful color and a fun habit of … Continued
Long-tailed Duck Pencil Sketch p87
Long -tailed Duck is a bird that we don’t see too often in central Michigan, so it generates excitement when they do show up. I remember seeing them in fairly large numbers on Jones Beach on Long Island in the winter. My aunt and … Continued
Jumping Spider on Peony Transparent Watercolor and Time Lapse
Yes, another Jumping Spider! I can’t get enough of these endearing arthropods. I’m looking forward to seeing them again this spring. Occasionally I’ll come across one in the house in the winter and wonder what the little guy is finding … Continued
Spectacled Eider Pencil Sketch p86
Eiders are fascinating birds, and I’ve long wanted to paint them. Common Eiders are the only ones I’ve seen in the wild so far. Sadly, they were too far away for me to get a workable photograph. I’ve sketched a … Continued
Plum-colored Starling (Violet-backed Starling) Transparent Watercolor and Ink
This bird is a great example of why they use scientific names with a genus and species. It has at least three common names: Violet-backed Starling, Plum-colored Starling and Amethyst Starling. Granted, they are pretty spectacular, so maybe one name … Continued
Red Squirrel Transparent Watercolor Painting and Time Lapse
Red squirrels are just about as cute as it gets for common rodents. Ok, flying squirrels are cuter, but they don’t qualify as common here in central Michigan. When choosing what to draw and paint, I usually follow whatever has my … Continued
Dunlin Transparent Watercolor Painting and Time Lapse
Because of Christmas, New Year’s, two family birthdays and a road trip all within a month’s time, I’m way behind on posting artwork. A Winter Dunlin is the subject of this recent watercolor painting, and it presented a good set of challenges. Here in … Continued
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Transparent Watercolor
I haven’t done a straight “bird portrait” in a while. Instead, I’ve been painting entire birds—each with a portion of its environment serving as part of the subject. I used to paint portraits regularly, but I think they work best on … Continued