I'm back

After some time, here I am again.

I have revamped my web site, and started an Instagram page.

You don't like posts with no images? Ok, that's a small bird I did recently with gouache paint

Green woodpeckers

The (european) green woodpecker (Picus viridis) is a beautiful, middle size bird of our countries. It's quite common to ear his funny call, a kind of sonorous mocking laughter, and you can spot him while he moves with his undulating flight, but he tends to be rather shy, so it's not easy to watch him for a long time.
But this summer I was lucky enough to see a couple of them breeding in a field near a wood, and the observation was rather long and accurate. They are mostly green and mimetic, but they have a bright red crown - as if they were a bit vain. They walked calmly and watchful on the grass, looking for food.
When you see wild animals busy in their activities, it's easy to understand why  many traditional legends regard them as "small persons", little human creatures with a secret life. So I decided to remember my lucky encounter with a painting, "the secret life of green woodpeckers".

Done mostly in watercolor, with some gouache and colored pencils (sorry for the bad photo). Unfortunately I was not consistent in the color of the characters.

Some more birds

I've been busy recently with some works I can't show on this blog, so here are a couple of my usual "bird drawings".

I'm grateful to my friend Antonio, who loves watching and photographing birds and other animals, for providing me with many good photos and allowing me to use them freely as reference.

Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis or Thalasseus sandvicensis) and other seabirds.


Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), young specimens.

More gulls

As I have already said, it's easy to take pictures of gulls in my town, so I'm afraid you will see a lot of drawings/paintings of gulls in the future, I'm experimenting a bit on different styles and techniques.

A couple of drawings. The first is done with a more tonal approach, suggesting a kind of "moist atmosphere"


in the second I reverted to my usual line style, which seems more lively to me


I also did a watercolor study (with very limited gouache and pencil touches). Due to lack of planning, I completely messed up the backgroud.


I'm still hesitant between a true soft watercolor effect, and a more precise description, which is what I actually got despite my initial intent.
Painting watercolor twice in a year is not the right way to improve...

Gulls

Gulls are common on the river in my town, especially in winter. They gladly accept some food (mostly old bread) and "pose" for some photos.
These are probably young specimens of black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus). The big one on the lower left is a different species, probably a yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis).