Red Shouldered Hawk ( Watercolour and Gouache in Moleskine watercolour sketch book approx 8"x 5" )

Comments

Wonderful painting, Bob - really well done... what a truly majestic bird...

Posted by Jan Rossington on Wed 10 Jul 17:50:34

Thank you Jan, very much.

Posted by Bob Biggart on Wed 10 Jul 18:21:29

An excellent, lifelike painting Bob. I really love the bird's wary, beady-eyed look -- very difficult to achieve on such a small scale.

Posted by Colin Cripps on Wed 10 Jul 19:10:38

Thank you very much Colin, hopefully see you on Thursday.

Posted by Bob Biggart on Wed 10 Jul 20:05:42

Good work Bob. Just very good capture from a difficult angle.

Posted by Jim Morris on Wed 10 Jul 20:07:39

Thanks Jim, clever of you to spot the angle!

Posted by Bob Biggart on Wed 10 Jul 21:40:46

Good painting.

Posted by RINNY JOY on Thu 11 Jul 05:22:15

Really like this Bob, really interesting to read your technique.

Posted by Heather Love on Thu 11 Jul 06:59:51

I love birds of prey Bob, and you’ve made a beautiful and skilful painting of this one. Super angle, seems to be looking down at us.

Posted by Tessa Gwynne on Thu 11 Jul 07:04:55

Super bird, Bob, and a great description of how you tackled this wonderful subject. They're ruthless AND majestic creatures, and you've caught both aspects very well. Bri

Posted by Brian J Mackay on Thu 11 Jul 08:17:36

Thanks all of you for your encouraging remarks...Bob

Posted by Bob Biggart on Fri 12 Jul 20:16:48

Hang on Studio Wall

10/07/2019

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I wanted to try a bird painting in watercolour, but before I did, I thought I'd do a sketch in my Moleskine watercolour sketch book. For a purist, the paper in this book isn't nearly the same as that of Saunders or Arches paper, but for sketching where you want a bit better than cartridge paper it's fine. James Gurney seems to produce great paintings in his similar sketchbooks, and I have made a copy of his Plein Air easel that he uses a LOT, with magnets embedded in the plywood to hold a small palette and a water container from falling off when painting. I gridded up a photo from the internet of the hawk in Elements 14, to the same 8 x5 dimensions I was going to draw, then gave it my best shot. The sky started in watercolour, but due to an uneven wash, I overpainted it with watercolour mixed with Titanium white. Plus I used the same method where I wasn't happy with the result in pure watercolour...a useful thing when painting complex feather masses.

About the Artist

Bob Biggart

I'm an amateur artist who started to paint in watercolours about 1990, when I found that the watercolours I admired in galleries were way beyond my price range. My thinking was that in time I might be able to produce paintings that I could hang on my wall at home, and be happy with. At the…

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