Bird-watching

Morning Dove, watercolor 22 x 30 cm

The lazy way to do bird watching - fill up a couple of bird feeders, hang them on a tree outside a window. Then sit inside and sketch...

So far I counted seven different species of birds, a few of them are quite rare and I only caught a glimpse of them, like the red cardinal and his wife (no, not the Borgia one) and the house finch. whereas the gold finch in its more subdued winter coat as well as the ordinary sparrow are the most common visitors. Of all, I keep being surprised by the multitude of soft pastel colors present in the plumage of the morning dove. The colors on the ones I painted are naturally exaggerated.

Dark-eyed juncos, 30 x 22 cm

Morning Doves, watercolor 22 x 30 cm

Tunnel of Shade

Tunnel of Shade, watercolor 28 x 25 cm

This view attracted me with its light and contrasts, but all attempts to paint it ended up too overworked, or lacking the proper range of values. Today the irony occurred to me: I've been trying so hard to depict a dark tunnel leading to the light :) Maybe this isn't the right way to find inspiration and it's time to change the subject.

Two of the previous attempts: