Reed Bunting ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor shorebirds The pileated's striking red crest

The pileated's striking red crest demanded pigments that could hold both intensity and transparency — the Gansai reds deliver that beautifully

This great grey owl pastel painting captures the largest owl in North America by length — a bird with a five-foot wingspan and a facial disc designed to funnel sound so precisely that it can locate prey beneath a foot of snow

Wet-on-wet mineral pigment washes built the red through layered passes that glow from within the paper

The walking heron is one of my favorite subjects because the long legs

The wet-on-wet technique lets the colors bleed and bloom the way real down feathers do — soft edges

Reed Bunting ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor shorebirds The pileated's striking red crestThis reed bunting watercolor painting captures a European marsh songbird with striking markings a black head and throat that frames a white collar, giving the bird the look of someone dressed for a formal occasion in the middle of a wetland. Reed buntings perch at the tops of reeds and sing with a persistence that's endearing. They're small birds with big presence. I painted this freehand on archival cotton rag paper with Kissho Gansai pigments from