It’s done! Very pleased to get this one finished, and in such a short amount of time. The final little details went in smoothly, and I’m especially excited at how the throat turned out. It has that iridescent look I was hoping to achieve.

I also realized that I never did mention who this was for. My mother loves hummingbirds and all she gets at her house really is the ruby throat. Now she has one all the time, even during the winter when they’ve migrated south. Her birthday is in a few days, but we’re headed to NY for a sort of funeral, so I get to deliver it in person. :)

The finished painting.

Now that the colors are all in place, it’s time to start adding some of the details. I always remind myself at this point that anything I screw up can be painted over. It’s the reason I like working with acrylics. :)

The feathers have actually went a little better than I expected. I had to lighten up the background around his neck so as not to lose it against the too dark background, but that was easy. That’s the nice thing about this kind of background, pretty easy to adjust later. I’ve gotten the feet in there, but now that I see it onscreen, I realize they’re a little small. That’s an easy fix, though.

Getting some details in the bird's feathers.

Now I’ve started to get some color in the bird. Mostly just blocking in the color, not worrying about any real detail. That will come later.

Getting some color in the bird.

Cruising right along! I’m pleased at how quickly this is coming together, and I’m loving this painting surface! I’m starting to think this might become a series. I quite like this!

I’ve gotten the flower mostly done, and the bird shape sketched and painted. Because I want the bird to be bright, I just painted in the shape of the bird in white, first, and then I’ll start putting the color over top of that. If I tried painting directly on the dark background, it would effect the brightness of the final color.

The flower is in, and the shape of the bird is set.

The advantage of being an artist is being able to make gifts for family members. The disadvantage of being an artist is also being able to make gifts for family members. :) My problem, really, is that I think of this kind of thing too late.

Decided yesterday to start this when I saw a little wood panel in the art store with a ’skirt’ around it (they call it a ‘cradle’). I like stretched canvases because they can be hung right after painting, no need to frame. The advantage to painting on a wood panel, though, is the very smooth surface which allows for more detail. With these ‘cradled’ wood panels, I can now have the best of both worlds, and will likely use them more often, depending on the subject matter.

So, here’s the background of the piece. Not much to look at, but it’s the start of the piece.

The background, greens and browns and blacks.