Rainbow Bee-eater in acrylics

I first printed this one out to paint as a 6 x 4 inch but the bird seemed to be lost in the background. So I then tried a 7 x 5 inch but still wasn't happy with the size  so finally settled on a  9 x 7 inch. It needed a larger size to do justice to this beautiful bird.    I loved painting this one - just love its colouring and I am rather pleased how it turned out.  These birds can be found around Australia except in Tasmania. They are a medium size bird ranging from 21 - 28 cm in length and weigh around 27 grams.

Rainbow Bee-eater measures 9 x 7 inches and is painted on canvas board / panel.

Many thanks to Patrick Kavanagh for the reference photo.

Sold.

Autumn Woods ACEO in acrylics

My two favourite season's to paint are Autumn and Spring - love the autumn colours and colourful flowers of spring.  I have another Autumn scene lined up to paint but it will be 6 x 4 inches on canvas board.   I actually have three paintings all ready to go - the 6 x 4 Autumn scene,  a 6 x 6 butterfly and  6 x 4 Scarlet Robin. I am planning on working on the butterfly this afternoon - hopefully I will be able to finish it in one sitting.

Autumn Woods measures 3.5 x 2.5 inches and is painted on 300gsm smooth watercolour paper.

Sold

Many thanks to Glennis Weston for the reference photo.

Red Backed Fairy Wren ACEO

This little fellow lives down the road from me - down by the lake.  (The residential estate I live in, has a lot of manmade lakes with nature corridors which are  link with  walking / cycling paths.)  I have being trying for ages to take a good reference photo and eventually I  used a photo that is not the best but it gave me a reference point to do a painting from.   I am rather pleased how it turned out.    I love watching them - they just don't sit still for very long. They are tiny birds  measuring around 11.5 cm and that includes the 6cm tail and on average weigh 8 grams.

Red Backed Fairy Wren measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches and is painted on 300 gsm smooth watercolour paper.

Sold

Red Browed Finch in acrylics

I decided to paint another Red Browed Finch but in a larger format.  I thought I was finished but when I came to scan it, I decided I needed to do a bit more work of the back feathers. So after a bit of tweaking I am rather pleased with the final piece.  In interesting fact about them is that they are highly sociable birds and are often seen in small flocks of 10 to 20 birds. 

Red Browed Finch measures 6 x 4 inches and is painted on 300gsm smooth Arches watercolour paper.

Many thanks to Patrick Kavanagh for the reference photo.

Sold

Silvereye ACEO in Acrylics

I often see these little bird around.  They belong to a group of birds known as white-eyes. It interesting that they have slightly different plumage depending which part of the country they live in and are found across Australia expect in the Northern Territories.

Silvereye measures 3.5 x 2.5 inches and is painted on 300gsm smooth Arches watercolour paper.

Many thanks to Patrick Kavanagh for the reference photo.

Sold

Red Capped Robin ACEO in acrylics

I decided to paint another red capped robin. I love the position this bird is sitting on the branch.    An interesting fact about these birds is that red plumage is from two red keto-carotenoid pigments and since they are unable to synthesize the compounds themselves, they have to obtain it from their food.

Red Capped Robin measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches and 300gsm smooth Arches watercolour paper.

Many thanks to Patrick Kavanagh for the reference photo.

Sold

Letter to Santa ACEO in acrylics

I have been thinking about painting this little scene for a while after coming across the reference photo of the mail box. I just had to find the right mouse, landscape  and raccoon reference photo to complete the picture.  Ended up using 4 reference photos in the end and I am rather please with the result.

Letter to Santa measures 3.5 x 2.5 inches and is painting on 300gsm smooth Archers watercolour paper.

Many thanks to Joseph Honings, Yvonne L Ham, Dave Webb and Orphie Barella for the reference photos.