Matt's watercolors (2 Viewers)

Thanks Nick and Buzzard,
I was happy with the way the kingfisher turned out. It has an odd history to it. A client liked 2 other paintings of mine, one with a kingfisher and one with a lot of birch bark . They wanted to have the two combined.

I tried to compose things so the branches would be interesting, framing up multiple islands of blue sky to keep some visual interest. Birches branch off very upright... at least the paper birch. The branch the kingfisher is perched on is probably at low an angle to be 100% realistic, but it seemed to fit the composition.

I think I still have the branches that I used as reference sitting around the studio somewhere.

We were lucky enough to have 2 successful bluebird nests in the backyard this year. A total of 12 fledged.

lovely drawing, how big is a bluebird? I imagine them being bigger than they probably are!

Thanks Nick... they are medium sized thushes... about 7inches---18cm. They have big personalities. They are quite tolerant of humans. I can set up about 15 feet from the nest box and they will shoot in and our. In my experience males are more skittish though.

mattybohan said:

A total of 12 fledged.

Click to expand...

That seems quite successful! Nice to have so many make it to that stage. Maybe they'll be back to visit you this year. Your drawing has a softness to it which seems quite suitable for these well-loved birds.

Wow, beautiful work! The step by steps are an amazing progression. Another talented artist on birdforum and another thread to aid in my procrastination! LOL!

Super sketch

Gretchen, we had a lot of success with this style of nest box that I made out of cedar and PVC. We had 6 eggs per nesting. The kids had a blast peeking in on them shortly after they hatched.
I'm not sure how many made it once they got out of the nest. We have a resident cooper's and sharp-shin that thin out the songbird population regularly. There are still a lot in the area. We have had as many as 6 at a time in the birdbath outside the kitchen window. Today we had 4.

Thanks Athur and Peter I'll try to post some more.

Here is another insect watercolor. Its a tiny damselfly from this summer's photos. These guys have been a load of fun to paint.

Spread-winged Damselfly
Transparent Watercolor
5.5 x 8.5 inches

Fantastic - from smeone who's tried to do dragons and damsels - this is superb. Great work Matty!

Thanks Tim! They are are challenge to paint, but rewarding.

Time for another bird... This is a 10x 14 inch transparent watercolor of a Burrowing Owl.
A step by step WIP can be found here:
http://blog.bohanart.com/2010/03/burrowing-owl-step-by-step/

Great step by step, you explain and show things so well. I really like the color harmonies in this.

One stupid question. Is this a one legged owl? If not then, at least for me viewing it, I'd like to see a bit of the toe of the lifted leg or something to keep me from continually going back to the space where the other leg would be. I know they stand on one leg, but my mind keeps trying to fill that space in.

Its a fine work and beautifully descriptive

lovely painting,watercolour is a complete mystery to me so it's wonderful to see it handled so skillfully,enjoyed viewing the wip's.i have an unopened set of watercolours and gouache in the studio bought on a whim some time ago,i really must give them a go!

Thanks Colleen and Clive.

Collen, for one reason or another burrowing owls seem to sit up on one leg like this when relaxing. The leg is often completely hidden under the covert feathers of the body. THey pull the foot up and fluff the feathers over it and it all but disappears. Our parrots do this all the time preferring to sleep on one leg. Kind of neat.

HEre are a few links showing owls in the pose. One has a small glimpse of the foot, usually it is covered up.

http://www.penick.net/digging/images/2009_12_27 Ft Worth Zoo/Burrowing owl.JPG

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3462287799_7447838dfb.jpg

http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/32...F61B83060F85198B9AF8AEFE524D0E23FEF406871B787

Clive you need to crack open the watercolors. Obviously, you have complete command in the world of graphite, but it might be fun to see what watercolor offers.

Thanks Matty for the links, I've never seen one live.

I know they and other birds stand this way, so for the bird lover it's just perfect, I mostly was observing from the feel of the composition on the eye and mind of a less knowledgeable observer like me. Wasn't suggesting a need to change anything at all, it perfectly describes the moment I'm sure. Just a comment to consider if you do something again.
It's a different balance compositionally for the heavy owl say, than an avocet or egret or flamingo who I've also seen this way.

I did a WIP on the burrowing owl recently and thought I'd post an accompanying step-by-step of just the breast feathers close-up. The area of detail is about 2.5x4 inches.
http://blog.bohanart.com/2010/03/burrowing-owl-feathers-step-by-step/

amazing patience, and done with a big brush I'd have to use a 0 to begin to get that.....do you have a brand you esp like? thanks for the link, explains the process well.....

Hi Collen,

I often get that comment about the brush size that I use being large. I've found that by using really high quality brushes you can get away using a bigger brush that keeps a really sharp tip. Then you have the benefit of it holding more pigment and being able to change your width of your stroke as you go. I'd say its 90% brush and only 10% technique.

As for the specific brushes, for anything #6 Round or smaller I pretty much only use W&N series 7 sable brushes. You can use a significantly larger brush with these than another type of brush. They hold a lot of pigment for their size and deliver an amazingly crisp line.

If its possible, its good to test a brush before buying it. Not all are created equally. A good art store will have some water available to test a watercolor brush. They all look really sharp in the store, as they are starched at the factory. Once you wet it you can tell how perfectly the tip forms. I've bought them online as well, from places like Cheap Joes, and typically the quality control on the series 7 brushes is very high so you can get away with it. I haven't gotten a bad one that way... BUT it probably is a matter of time. I guess that is the peril of the shopping online rather than a brick-and-mortar shop.

I've used some synthetics and blends and they are OK, but they don't hold up as well long term. They never hold the pigment as well either. The stiffness/springy-ness (if that is a word!) is distinctly different from the pure sable. I think you could used to that. It is just a little harder for me to vary the stoke weight on a single stroke of the brush.

The W&N red scepter series is a synthetic blend. Those are pretty good new if you want a compromise of price and quality. Again they tend not to hold up as well. I fluctuate on how much my conscience bothers me about using sable for brushes.

When I was in art school a prof said to buy high quality sable brushes that they are worth the investment since they will last virtually forever. I'm diligent about washing my brushes but they still wear down quickly. I do almost all my small detail work with fresh #2 brushes. They wear out pretty fast.

I wasn't blessed with the ability to work fast and loose. I'd imagine that the brushes would hold up a lot longer with that enviable style.

Superb WIP Matt and many thanks for the illuminating reply to Colleen's Q.

Thanks Tim... and if anyone else has brushes they like I'm all ears!