Late summer days, a kingfisher

Late summer days, a kingfisher

Here in mid Devon, things have turned decidedly cooler, there seems to be a blanket of cloud  over us , which isn't letting the sunshine in, or to look on the bright side, it isn't raining either....So we have to look for glimpses of brightness elsewhere. 

I was having a lovely day on 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

 

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2 comments

Beautifully painted. You certainly captured his look.

Hazel Alexander

😍 This is so beautiful, as all your paintings! I am in love with those colours!

Béatrice

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