The First Australian Bird Painted!

​Here is my first painting in my “Great Australian Bird Adventure” sketchbook that I brought with me to Australia.    I decided to do the Australian iconic bird -  the laughing kookaburra.   Somehow this bird seemed to be the perfect choice. 

If you missed my last video where I painted the intention for this sketchbook.  HERE
 
After I arrived in Australia last month I went out to photograph birds, the very first bird I saw and photographed was a Kookaburra.  It seems to me that when I go out to photograph birds it doesn’t seem like a perfect session if I don’t see a Kookaburra.  Most of the time I am lucky to see at least one. 
 
We are staying at our oldest son’s place which is right next to a ravine. There are Laughing Kookaburras that hang around here. Where they are hunting lizards and calling to each other.   When I first arrived, I kept hearing something regularly in the mornings and in the evenings and sometimes during the day.  I finally asked my son if there were monkeys around here. Turns out the kookaburra laugh kind of sounds like monkeys to me.    
 
I am at the beginning stages of learning to use gouache. This paint doesn't act like acrylic or watercolor paint, which means all the techniques that I have taught myself over the years are not working the way that I expected them to do. There's a bunch of learning happening here and I have to remember to remain really patient with myself.  It is interesting how as humans we tend towards habits that are comfortable and struggle with impatience and frustration when we move into new learning situations.   I guess I want perfection immediately and that is not going to happen!
 
I always start back to front when I am doing a painting.  I start working on the background just building up different colours of green with the pale blue- grey sky peeking through.
 
Here is something that I realized about some Australian foliage…some of it (gum trees and so forth) have a very different colours than the birch and willow trees from Yellowknife.  I am doing the greens I am comfortable with on the background.  They are not the grey blue greens that I was actually seeing on the image.  I just couldn’t get my brain to switch over.
 
Sometimes following what you see compared to what you “think” you see can get in the way.  My memory understanding of what green trees are definitely got in the way on this painting. I need to grab some leaves and see if I can match them in and out of the sunshine. 

My most recent birding experience was with a White-faced Heron. I was editing this video sitting at the dining room table when I looked up to see the Heron on a branch at the edge of the ravine next to my son’s place.  I was able to sit in the house and photograph it through the open window.  I got some amazing photos of it preening before it started to hunt.   I have sent out a newsletter that includes a range of bird photos that I have captured.  Head over to dancing raven studio dot ca to sign up for my newsletter.  Also there is a link below for my blog where I have put some photos of the White faced Heron.
 
I have seen all kinds of different birds, a few I have shared in my newsletter. And I'm excited about continuing with my sketchbook.

I just wanted to say that these birds are actually grey, but for some reason my camera sees them a very blue.   It is one of the many differences between how our eyes see and how a camera records the world.