Wednesday, January 20, 2010

More Ruddy Turnstones

Apparently I have not yet got the ruddy turnstones out of my system! This one was a very quick watercolor study, the challenge being to paint as loose as possible while still keeping important features such as the eye and beak from becoming abstract. To all you birders out there, does this convey essence of turnstone? Could you hazard a pretty good guess as to what bird was being painted (if you hadn't seen my spoiler title)?

I want to say thanks to everyone who left comments on my post about my painting inner dialog. It is reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who has such a harsh inner critic, but at the same time it is a shame so many of us have to deal with one.

Meanwhile, we've been enjoying above-freezing temperatures lately that will hopefully melt away all the ice so that we can safely go bird-watching again. It is very hard to spot birds up in the trees when your eyes are glued to the ground in front of you! I hope things are warming up for you in your favorite outdoor spots.

4 comments:

Teri said...

Wow, these are beautiful!

CE Webster said...

That is a watercolor. It does capture the essence of the birds. Well done.

Gabrielle said...

Hi Teri and CE, thank so much for stopping by. I really do appreciate it!

Eve said...

I'm not really good about identifying the shore birds but from looking in my book yours look great! You have a great talent there Gabrielle!