Kingfisher

 

Kingfisher (4x6")

There's some unwritten rule that everyone has to paint a kingfisher at some point. They're gorgeous!

 

As with the guinea fowl, I made a few sketches first to capture the kingfisher's pose. I love the way it's hunched on that branch. It's all coiled up, ready to strike, almost like a cat.

This was my also first shot at using Phthalo Blue. It's an extremely saturated warm blue and great for intense colors, but it's transparent which makes it tricky to use. I had to plan the whole painting around it. I skipped the underpainting so the blue wouldn't be dulled in any way, then started with the blue patches and built the rest of the painting around them.