Hummingbird (a small mixed media)

When I'm doing watercolor lessons with classrooms, I often end up with random areas of washes or other techniques. While I never do them with a particular intention in mind, one piece caught my fancy because it started to resemble the sky outside that day. So with a little water work, I cleared out a few clouds ... and then left it sit for months.

This particular piece is approximately 2" x 3" - not a canvas for an overly ambitious picture. But eventually I got an idea and so began to work. We have a hummingbird feeder outside our back door and it's fascinating to see the colors that reflect off these tiny birds, as well as the attitude they give you if you're too close for comfort. Talk about short man syndrome!

Even with the background in watercolor, the natural choice for me was colored pencil. I really am not a watercolor artist and still like a sharpened tip for working in small spaces. So I began with a sketch and then started to build the layers and the areas of color.



I found that it wasn't quite as balanced as I would like so in the end I added a few subtle blossoms (the view behind the feeder is a cherry tree at my house).


(Here's a more natural light look.)


To frame it for the regional CPSA exhibit, I elected to go with a simple 5 x 7" brushed aluminum frame and weighted the textured white matting. It was a delight to work small and I'll be doing it again sometime with other sample pieces I've been collecting.

"Hummingbird" is now part of a private collection.