The Little Nuthatch
Birds of Prey: Swallow-tailed Kite.
From my birds of prey studies, this one of my favorite birds to watch. The most graceful, Swallow-tailed Kite.
Inspirational Artists I grew up on... Dahlov Ipcar.
Stripes and Spots by Dahlov Ipcar is one of my very very favorite picture books. I love the specific color palette. I love that all the animals are realistic but look friendly and happy. I just love every page of this book! Upon making this post, I looked to see what else Dahlov Ipcar had done. So many beautiful picture books!! I found that she lives on a farm in Maine, is 95 years old, still painting and showing in galleries. A prolific artist and an inspiring woman.
Birds of Prey: Mississippi Kite.
I am trying to learn more about the birds of prey. Of course my favorite way of learning is through art so I have been filling a sketchbook with drawings and info on the birds. I got a nice brown paper sketchbook and have been using a set of Derwent drawing pencils in earth tones (7 colors). The first one is the Mississippi Kite.
Inspirational Artists I grew up on... Barbara Cooney.
The next inspirational artist I grew up on I'd like to mention is Barbara Cooney, illustrator of many books, my favorite being one she also authored: Miss Rumphius I love love love this book! The colors and details are the best. There is an interesting article about Barbara Cooney on the penguin website. Barbara talks about her mother being a painter, and the support she received from her mother as a child: "She gave me all the materials I could wish for and then left me alone, didn’t smother me with instruction. Not that I ever took instruction very easily....
Field guide painting: Grosbeaks of North America.
My latest field guide, the Grosbeaks of North America. Wow, what a beautiful group of birds! So I kind of have this idea that I am going to paint all the birds of North America that I have not yet painted in my other field guides. I like having a big project to work on. Most will be stand alone, probably little 5x7 paintings, but when I saw the Grosbeaks to paint I just thought they belonged together! This painting includes: Black-headed Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Crimson-collared Grosbeak Evening Grosbeak Pine Grosbeak Rose-breasted Grosbeak Yellow Grosbeak