This is inspired by watching and sketching Albatrosses in the Falkland Islands during my 2008 arist-in-residency with Quark Expeditions.

A Twin Otter, the most charming of planes, coming in to land. Inspired by my High Latitudes expedition in NE Greenland.

This 5″ x 5″ painting is inspired by my time with a walrus research team on Sand Island, NE Greenland during my High Latitudes project in 2010. The dark palette reminds me of storm light on early mornings when the sun was low on the horizon. I used only four colors for this piece with a touch of white gouache to polish it up: Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Pyrrol Orange, Indanthrone Blue, and Lunar Black. This black granulates dramatically, creating texture as the pigment settles on the paper.

This painting is inspired by the Ringed Plover I spotted and sketched in NE Greenland in 2010. I had such fun painting a hummingbird for yesterday’s 5″ x 5″ that I thought I’d continue the trend of painting birds.

Today we saw our first visitor to our backyard hummingbird feeder. It was the most rotund little bird I’ve ever seen! I think it was a juvenile Anna’s Hummingbird. I painted this sketch with just three colors: Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Gold, Pthalo Blue (red shade), and Carbazole Violet. I’m pleased with their mix of greens and browns.

Next I masked off the bird and branch with packing tape that I cut out with a razor blade, and painted the background. I wet the page and let my colors blend together. Once dry, I went back in to darken some areas and used a toothbrush to add splatters of paint. In some areas, I used a spray bottle to soften hard edges.

Once dry, I removed the tape and painted the foreground. I started with large areas of light greys and browns, and continued with darker regions and small, detailed strokes. I’m happy with the result, although the little hummingbird should be even fatter!