“In the Pink” seems like an appropriate title to me for this series of nine pīwakawaka paintings - for one thing, each painting started with a strong layer of pink underpaint…and the pīwakawaka I was painting was a particularly happy and healthy wee fellow who was a regular visitor to my Seacliff studio at the time!
Over the last few months I have been studying birds in much more detail using a variety of media - watercolour, pastel and graphite as well as my favourite oil paint with much larger brushes.
Several of these studies started with preliminary pastel drawings to warm up and gain confidence to “draw” with the unpredictability of paint and brush!
Although the paintings may look very detailed there is also the magic in a rough brush’s ability to convey feathers - often it’s knowing when to stop. I have kept the backgrounds simple and textured with buttery paint which catches the light in interesting ways and reminds me of moiré silk.
Luckily I have some daily visitors at my current studio on the Otago Peninsula, including this black pīwakawaka, who will be exciting subjects for my next series - watch this space!
