Here in mid Devon, things have turned a bit cooler, and we have even had some rain!! We have just returned from a few days on Mull , seeing our daughter in her new home, it's a long way from here and there is no quick way to get there, but oh my goodness it was beautiful
A few weeks ago I was having a lovely Saturday watching some local musicians sitting in a field with friends. One friend suggested that we go for a swim together this week in a friends' pond , so happy to grab any opportunity for some al fresco swimming we headed over there.
Oh my goodness it was beautiful , and to top everything off we we joined by a kingfisher, who flew around us while we swam. how could I not be inspired to paint such a beautiful bird.
He seemed quite unbothered by us, and let us get very close, I was able to examine him very carefully, it was such a treat.
So when i got back to the studio I drew a kingfisher
Then I used my spray bottle and added some oranges and blues to the paper around the bird.
I spray the paper first then i add paint by hitting a loaded brush and letting the paint do it's thing. I then left it all overnight.
Then I began on the details, the eye, using my smallest brushes
just cerulean blue then a mixture of browns and blues to make the darker shades. Always leaving a tiny spot of white to reflect the light.
Then the beak, and the details around the eye, I am using small brushes and painting very carefully. The beak uses the same colours as the eye. The orange parts are yellow ochre and cadmium orange.
The feet are also done in detail. For the shadow areas I use a mixture of cadmium red and cobalt blue.
Now I must apologise as I got carried away and forgot to take many photos. However once the details are done I paint everything quite quickly. I used phthalo blue and cerulean blue for the wings, and yellow ochre, cad. orange, and a red brown for the rust coloured body. I am trying to let things happen organically, and not going over sections too much to keep everything fresh.
Finally I added a hint of a post for him to stand on and some splashes of white acrylic, where I thought they would work
And here he is , a vivid memory, a glimpse of brightness, on a lovely afternoon x