This mother barn swallow has found a safe place to leave her chick while she searches for insects. When I was a child, the barn swallows would line up by the dozens on the power lines around the barn. There has been a dramatic population drop since then (there are many reasons for this) but recently, we've seen a little increase. Go swallows!
Each original watercolour painting begins with a detailed pencil drawing. The drawing process involves real-life objects from our farm, the use of my own photo references of our resident wildlife, and many pattern and colour studies. The wallpaper patterns seen in many of my pieces are created from scratch… from doodle to design! As for the watercolour itself, all of the pieces are painted on a hot-pressed block using fine brushes, watercolour paint and pencils and, as yet, no magnifying glass.
Date: 2019