American Kestrel

Background

I returned to creating artwork during the early stages of the 2020 Corona virus lockdown. I had rediscovered birding and I wanted to create some sketches in color in a decent sketchbook and had a stack of watercolor paper in a flat file from back when I drew full time. After creating the sketchbook, I decided I needed to swatch out some of the colors in order to create my new palette. I had no idea the feelings it would rekindle to work with art supplies again.

After a few weeks of playing around with sketches, I began creating some larger pieces that I wasn’t wholly disappointed in. One thing led to another and I decided I needed to revisit one of my favorite birds, the American Kestrel. These fierce little hunters have long been one of my favorites and I had created a drawing in colored pencil several years ago that I’ve always wanted to improve upon.

Painting Process

I was truly learning on the fly with this piece. I had never created a serious watercolor piece before and I tried to use a delicate hand to avoid overworking the paper as much as possible. Using my favorite watercolor paints by M. Graham, I have used the pigments long enough to know how they handle. They honey they use in the paints make them very easy to rewet and create dense mixes. This helped me avoid the wishy-washy approach I knew would result from tentative noodling on the paper.

Overall, I was very pleased with this piece. There are certainly things I could have done better, but overall, for my skill level, I was able to punch well above my weight class. I truly think my love for the subject kept me locked in to completing it as well as I could. The prints I have been able to produce from this piece have also come out quite well. Overall, a very nice piece to start my serious watercolor portfolio.