CRESTED GOSHAWK

 

This is another painting I did a while ago, I am slowly catching up on those that haven't yet made it onto my blog. I saw this bird in Hong Kong where it was kept captive for a while until it had recovered from an injury. They are relatively common especially around the forest of Tai Po Kau where I spent quite a lot of time walking around the many trails exploring and birdwatching. A fast and effective predator, we once saw it catch a bird almost the same size as it was. Size of the painting is about 7 x 10 in (18 x 26 cm), oil on board.

FOREST FLOOR II

 

Many years ago, I would simply walk out into nature, sit somewhere and start painting. I did almost all of my work outside and while this had its difficulties, I found that I always saw and experienced much more that way. This painting was an example, I was looking down at the multitude of fallen leaves when I saw this composition almost at my feet. So I started drawing right there on my watercolor paper. It took some time to complete but eventually I walked back home with something I felt was the beginning of an important painting. Much later and after many washes of thin watercolor, I finished what was for me a work that intimately connected me to the place I now call home.

EVENING OVER THE LAKE 1 & 2

 

Towards the end of summer, I walked down to the lake to observe the ending of the day, and to paint. I set up in hope of something special and was rewarded with an intense orangish light that settled over the lake creating a myriad of tones. I worked quickly before the effect was gone, fortunately the heat of the day dried the watercolor washes quickly so I was able to capture the islands shape and more distant land before all the light had gone.

This second work was done from the opposite side of the lake also looking across the water to the island where Great Blue and Green Herons nested. The light was similar to the other day but a bit of mist moved across the water breaking up the form of the furthest edge. I concentrated a little more on the reflections in this one trying to capture the mood of the day. Both are watercolors, sizes are about 7.5 x 11 in (19 x 28 cm).

RED-TAILED HAWK PORTRAIT

 

Quite a few years ago, I visited a falconer friend to make studies and sketches of his birds. This partial-albino Red-tailed Hawk was the one that interested me the most and my sketchbooks are full of hawk drawings. It was a first-year bird, almost completely white but with quite a few ‘normal’ head feathers along with the odd darker one here and there. The tail was of a normal juvenile (barred) but much lighter than usual. Apparently these very pale birds appear in about 5% of the overall Red-tailed Hawk population. All show varying amounts of white but this is the whitest one that I have seen. Most have been birds with the usual plumage features but with a much lighter overall tone, some are the opposite being quite dark and I have made some studies of a sooty-looking dull-greyish bird. The underparts though were slightly lighter and it still had its usual red tail found on adult birds although this was darker than usual. This plumage variation is common amongst the buteo genus.

I remember starting with some quick sketches done from a respectable distance. I found this hawk to be a very docile bird which meant that I was able to approach and examine it closely without any nervousness, and moving the bird into sunlight helped bring out more of its character. So far I have completed quite a few paintings of this bird, this one was done in watercolor so as to try and capture the softness of the plumage. In this portrait, as I was only concerned with my thoughts and interactions with the bird, I kept the background simple and concentrated on bringing out the essence of this wonderful hawk. Size is about 8 x 11 in. (20 x 28cm).

EVENING LIGHT SUNDOWN

 

In this painting, I tried to capture the incredible light effect as the sun set over the water. There were only a few clouds so I kept them soft for a quieter mood. This is an older work, I used to do a lot of paintings along this similar theme and I think it is time I did more! Size is 12 x16 in (30 x 40 cm), oil on canvas.

EVENING AT THE LAKE

 

In this older work, I tried to capture the feeling of evening light falling over the nearby lake. I would often visit this area and did many studies and paintings there. Some like this one was more successful in that I felt I captured a feeling of open space, atmosphere and color. This oil is a 9 x 12, oil on canvas.

MUTE SWAN

 

I'm still not properly sorted with regards to my studio set up but I am getting there! Unfortunately not much time to paint at the moment but I did do a little more work to this oil study. Another painting that was started some time ago but I am a little more sure of the direction I want to take this one now. Size is 12 x 16 inches (30 x40 cm). Oil on Board.