Having had great success with my quick “Quarantine Studies,” small, mixed media pieces I’ve been selling on Facebook during the Covid-19 Pandemic, I decided to try applying the style to something larger and more fully developed. This is one of the first two experiments in that venture. Those who know my work are aware that my typical process has become very slow, elaborate, labor intensive, and multi-step, so it has been very refreshing to challenge myself to do quicker, more direct painting. Though I take the same care with anatomy as I always do in representing my subjects, the use of watercolor (and especially the use of deliberate drips and runs in the initial stages) makes these pieces impossible to plan or entirely predict. That randomization is not easy, but it is freeing, and I’ve truly enjoyed letting the paint take over a bit. These pieces are a mixture of graphite and colored pencil drawing, acrylic painting, and watercolor.

In this particular study, I’ve focused on one of my very favorite desert birds, the glorious Vermilion Flycatcher. When we first moved to Arizona, it was a serious goal to see one of these birds in the wild. After many failed attempts, my partner and I happened upon a pair in a park while walking our dogs. We stalked them with our cameras for over an hour (until even our dogs were bored), and several paintings resulted. Soon after, we discovered that the wash near our home is prime flycatcher habitat, and we often see at least two pairs whenever we walk that route. Despite the frequency with which we encounter them now, that brilliant, hyper-saturated red is something I will never take for granted. In this study, my main goal was to let that red take center stage.