Bird by Bird

One by one, our 3 cats crossed the rainbow bridge in 2022. So sad and hard; we miss each one of them so much! Over the months of being cat-less, word has gotten out to the birds. Our birdfeeder has become the "It Place" amongst the feathered friends. Fun to watch and learn and get inspiration from so I set up my tripod with a Canon camera and took a few (hundred). photos to reference for paintings. 

House Finch 6x6 oil on panel

You would think birds would be easy to paint, but not so much. Like everything we see, our brains expect specific dimensions and relationships in objects for identifying. If the head is too big for the body or the eyes too close together, it just looks odd. I've learned this lesson a few dozen times, so I now I start each  painting slowly, making sure proportions are correct enough to be believable. 

Carolina wren 5x5 Oil unmounted linen canvas

The challenge for me is to paint with a loose, freer style. That means not tracing the form onto the canvas, but instead using lines and angles to approximate where the bird shape will be. For example, on the blank canvas, using a #2 round brush with medium-dark color, I do a quick line across where the top of the head will be. That becomes a reference for several additional angled lines: the slope of the back, the angle of the tail, etc. Pretty soon my canvas has a bunch of angled lines that I begin to develop into a little wren.

Mourning Doves 6x8 Oil Linen panel

Losing edges is another technique that makes a painting loose and painterly. It brings a softness to the subject and lets our marvelous brains fill in the details. It even seems to help tell the story by not giving all the information upfront. This sweet pair of doves pretty much live in our backyard now; coming and going and always coming back. Too big for the feeder, they forage below where our cheerful cardinals toss out seeds they're not as fond of. Do you see where the edges are "lost" and "softened"?

House finch 6x6 Oil Linen panel

Enhancing the focal point by muting the background with abstract strokes in contrasting values and hues also helps the story-telling of a painting. This house finch was slightly turned and head cocked, looking down (maybe at the doves). It was challenging to get that body position, but I think I nailed the feathers. The secret to painting feathers for me is to do many layers of thin, undiluted paint in several similar hues and light strokes. Eventually it takes on the subtle color changes and depth.

I love our little songbirds of the South, but my favorite of all is the delightful, sassy Carolina wren. Lots of lost edges is this painting. These wrens are spunky, bouncy, flitty wee characters. I'm sure I will be painting them again and again!

Carolina wren Foraging 6x8 Oil unmounted linen canvas

Thanks for reading my blog! Comments welcome. These are small, affordable original oil paintings; contact me to purchase. [email protected]  Cheers!