Art Challenge - Kingfisher

The last 2 weeks of my art class are given over to a personal project. I challenged myself to painting a Kingfisher from one of my v.limited own photos placed in a background inspired by the works of a New Zealand artist, Rachel Walker.  I had already had one go at it, but hated the background, so this was the opportunity for another go.

At the end of last week’s class I was tempted to bin it and start again as the background once again wasn’t working, though I think my rendition of the bird had improved.  Still artists often talk about the “ugly stage”. So this week I persevered and with some encouragement and direction from the tutor completed this piece.  It’s certainly not Rachel Walker’s style, but it gets close to what I was looking for.

Acrylic ink and Indian ink on 140lb watercolour paper, painted in around 5 hours.