At the Feeder

"At the Feeder," wc/ink on paper, 7x5

Those who have read other posts here may remember that most Saturdays a group of us go out and sketch for an hour or two, then meet and share our work. Last Saturday, though, the temperatures were in single digits and snow was blowing hard across the land. We elected to stay warm and indoors, each sketching from our respective homes or studios. 

Outside my home studio are several bird feeders that I keep filled for various avian visitors. We see the usual species, mostly--cardinals, jays, finches, sparrows and so on. With the cold and wind, the feeders were crowded. 

As I always do, I made a preliminary drawing then added color. In this case I used a kind of synthetic watercolors that hold considerably moire pigment than traditional watercolors do. That means brighter and more opaque colors rather than the thin and more transparent ones of traditional paint. After I was satisfied with the general colors I made a second pass, strengthening darks and adding various details. I added ink to the tree trunk, snow on the spruce, and to the bird and feeder.