Kingfisher
My neighbor, the talented photographer and mountain guide Alasdair Turner, found this beautiful, recently dead Kingfisher while out kayaking. I borrowed it to sketch life size. It had a powerful 2″ long beak and lovely colors in the feathers.
For this sketch, I worked quickly with a large sumi brush on Arches Cover cream paper. The pigments were Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue, Lunar Black, Raw Sienna, Lunar Earth, Quinacridone Rose, and some white gouache.
When I was done, Alasdair froze the bird in a ziplock bag and donated it to the Burke Museum. They have a wonderful bird collections and taxidermy programs.
2 Responses to “Kingfisher”
David Barr
I really like this painting of the Kingfisher, especially your dry brush effects which look so good on the head feathers. And not going overboard with color.
I attended your field sketching demonstration at Daniel Smith this afternoon and had to rush out without thanking you–I really enjoyed it and was inspired by it-thank you–David
Maria
Thank you, David! I’m glad you enjoyed the demo, too!