After a 50-year hiatus from painting with watercolors, I rekindled my interest in 2014, and for reasons still as yet unbeknownst to me, I paint nothing but birds (with the notable exceptions of my three granddaughters).
Birds of prey are my favorite avian subject. Many species have slightly hooded eyes, which gives them an aura of anger. These angry falcons, ospreys, hawks, eagles, and owls are well represented in my work.
All my subjects are interpreted from photographs. I started off with photos taken off the web, but stopped when told I could be sued for copyright infringement if the posting photographer found out, so I now use friends and relatives as sources, and am fortunate that my daughter’s mother-in-law is an extremely talented amateur wildlife photographer in New Orleans. She has provided the photographic sources for about half of my paintings. I also have been using many of my own photographs, including several of the aforementioned birds of prey. Many of my newer, more colorful efforts are based on photos of tropical species by two professional bird photographers (Glenn Bartley and Jess Findlay) who have each granted me permission to interpret their fine work in watercolors.
I try to render my subjects with as much ornithological accuracy as possible, hoping that anyone with a passing knowledge of birds will be able to recognize the species: “Hey that’s a Great Horned Owl” (provided, hopefully, they are not looking at my Blue Jay, never mind another species of owl).
Because birds have delicate feathers, I spend a great deal of time on stroke work. Fair to say what I may lack in talent I more than make up for in patience. The slow pace of my painting justifies the use of photos as source material. If I painted plein air with live subjects, it would get too dark before I got much done. And the birds would be long gone…..
Website: artforthebirds.com
