Rainbow Bee - Eater in acrylics

I love painting these birds - I just love the colours of their feathers.  Everything just worked with this one and I am really happy how the final painting turned out.

An interesting fact about these birds is that their favourite insects to eat are bees and they will  rub the bee against their perch to remove the stinger even though they are immune to the bees sting.

Rainbow Bee - Eater measures 6 x 8 inches and is painted on Raymar's Feather Lite Smooth Portrait Cotton 1/16"  panel.

Many thanks to Patrick Kavanagh for the reference photo.

Sold

Carmine Bee - Eater ACEO in watercolours

I couldn't decide on which medium to paint this lovely bird in.  I was going between acrylics and watercolours.  In the end I decided to do a watercolour head study in order to get an idea on how it would look in watercolours. 

I was really pleased with the result so I will be painting  the whole bird in watercolours. 

Of course I still want to do an acrylic version. Fortunately I have two more reference photos with the same bird but with its head at slightly different angles.  So I can paint an acrylic and I am also think an oil version.

Carmine Bee-Eaters are found across sub-equatorial Africa ranging from KwaZulu - Natal in South Africa across to Namibia and Gabon,  the Eastern Congo and Kenya.

Carmine Bee - Eater measures 3.5 x 2.5 inches and is painted on 300gsm rough Arches watercolour paper.

Many thanks to Scotch Macaskill for the reference photo.

Sold

Moonlit Wave in oils

I felt like a change so I decided to paint the sea.. I bought a DVD tutorial  a while back on painting the sea / wave in moonlight and have been wanting to paint my own version for a while.  I went through my photos from my holiday to the Bay of Fires in Tasmania a few years back and found one that was suitable.  I just printed it out in black and white.    I used Prussian Blue, Phthalo Blue and Ultramarine Blue for the wave - it worked rather well. 

Moonlit Wave measures 8 x 6 inches and is painted on Raymar's Feather Light Smooth Portrait Cotton 1/16"  panel.

Tiger in acrylics

I have had this one on my list to paint for ages.  Love the intensity of the eyes.  I actually started it, wasn't happy with how it was going and to put it one side.  About two weeks later, I relooked at it and worked out that my fur colour was not quite right which was throwing off the whole painting.  So I reworked the fur and finally the painting come together.  Really pleased with the final piece. 

Tiger measures 6 x 6 inches and is painted on Ampersand Gessobord Panel.

Many thanks to Gary Jones for the reference photo.

Autumn Pathway ACEO in acrylics

So this one is the second Autumn landscape I painted. I enjoyed painting it and am rather pleased how it turned out.

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

Many thanks to Kathy Detweiler for the reference photo.

Sold

Autumn Tree ACEO in acrylics

I haven't painted the little landscape aceo's for ages and since it is autumn, I decided to paint a couple of Autumn Landscapes.  This is the first one.  I just love the tree in all its autumn splendour and it was really fun to paint too.

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

Many thanks to  E. Luiza Picciano for the reference photo.

Sold

Red Bishop ACEO in Acrylics

I love the vibrancy of this bird's feathers. It was a bit of a balancing act to lighten the feathers without turning them pink.  I also thought the bird wasn't standing out enough from the background so I ended up darkening the background and I am really happy how it turned out in the end.

Red Bishops (also known as Southern Red Bishops) are found in Africa South of the Equator.

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

Many thanks to Derek Keats for the reference photo.

Sold