Florida Flamingo #National Draw a Bird Day

7.5x5 watercolor and India ink painted this afternoon for #National Draw a Bird Day that happens every April 8th.  Below is my pencil drawing.

Graphite rendering of my Florida flamingo sketched in pencil.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Flaming Flamingo

22x30 watercolor on light weight Yupo synthetic paper, painted from another lovely bird photographed in my travels.  The slick surface of Yupo lets pigments sit on top as there is no tooth for the paint to sink into, thus they're more vibrant.  Fixative is sprayed to keep the work intact.

New Flamingo

Now no one loves to paint these colorful tropical birds more than I do. It is a thrill when visiting Las Vegas to go by the Flamingo Hilton to the back of the hotel and watch them for hours around their koi pond, preening themselves as if performing in one of the stage shows. This painting is mixed media (colored pencil, watercolor, acrylics) on 8x11 gessoed matboard. It was a timed exercise on WetCanvas and took 5 minutes to draw and 55 to paint this weekend. Blades of grass were scratched out in semi-dry paint using bevel end of my 1" sable flat.