The Sleeping Hardhead

First of all I would like to thank all the new followers (so many!), those of you who leave comments, it is very nice and inspiring to read your kind words and follow your blogs, and thanks to every visitor as well. This bird is now popular in this blog, you can easily see the sketch that originated the painting in one of May's posts. What intrigues me about this male Hardhead is that he's got a broken wing and he is also the only specimen living at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.. I wonder how he got there.. Hardhead - Aythya Australis 

Until next time     Matteo

What did you use?

I was asked a few times what are the tools I like to work with.. These latest sketches are from the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, a place I haven't come back for a while..

These are the tools I like using when sketching outside: water colour suitable sketchbook, watercolors, water soluble ink pen, water brushes medium and small, water proof ink pen, fountain pen filled with water colour paint (charcoal grey).

Teals and Stilts

 

This is the last painting from the Sleeping Birds series, Chestnut Teals and Black-winged Stilts, ink and watecolour on paper, 30x40cm, from a beautiful place just about a hour north of Brisbane called Bribie Island, that place teems with wildlife..

More from the Sleeping Birds series....

Female Golden-shouldered Parrot, water colour on paper, 25x20.5cm, 2011. The species is endangered, they have a very intimate relationship with termites, they make their nest inside termites mounds at the same time the young termites bugs are hatching, so the termites keep the yung parrots warm and the baby parrots provide termites with food that is their droppings.. a good example of cooperation.

 
Tawny Frogmouth, water colour on paper, 24.5x28.5, 2011.

The Sleeping Birds Series goes on...

I am a half way to finish this collection (10 artworks so far) ... this time I'm posting the Silver Gull and the Emu. I tried to use as less colour as possible for the Silver Gull, which is easy for gulls since they're very light coloured, while I needed to use a bit more for the sleeping Emu, I had this very close and sweet contact at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. I can see in the Emu the influence that Louis Agassiz Fuertes has had on me...

Little Corella

Cacatua sanguinea. I wanted to go out to draw birds, but the weather has been a bit wild lately in Qeensland, so I opted to do some studio work today. Sleeping birds are attractive and inspiring. Maybe I've just started a new body of work completely dedicated  to sleeping birds... sounds like a great idea!