Ruby-Throated Hummingbird — Patience Shorebirds all speed and orange light

all speed and orange light

freehand approach

This heron watercolor painting is the second in a pair of solitude studies — companion pieces that explore the same theme from different angles

the bouncing roller-coaster flight

They plunge through the snow crust feet-first

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird — Patience Shorebirds all speed and orange lightEvery hummingbird watercolor print in this group started with one of the greatest technical challenges in bird painting: iridescence. Hummingbird color isnt pigment its structural, created by microscopic feather platelets refracting light. The throat of a ruby throated hummingbird shifts from black to blazing ruby depending on the angle. A rufous hummingbird burns copper to garnet. Suggesting that in a static medium like watercolor is where my