Monday, October 1, 2012

Hummer Guarding his Food Supply

This is one of the hummingbirds that stayed close to the feeders the entire time we were in Texas on our vacation.

This sketch is strictly ink and wash and I don't think I'm going to add much in the way of color. He was basically black, gray and white with maybe a touch of tan or brown........very different variety from what we are accustomed to seeing in West Virginia.  Due to the fact he was primarily gray/black, I thought the washed effect would work out beautifully not really needing much in the way of additional color.

This little guy continuously perched on this line we had a feeder hanging from or a limb right above it.

Sketched in my Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with 3/8" angular flat pulling the gray from the ink lines.  To obtain the darker areas without hatching or cross hatching and washing out with damp brush, I scribbled ink onto a plastic surface and used a damp brush to pick the ink up and "paint" in those areas.


2 comments:

Maree Clarkson said...

What a cutie Susan! The ink and wash certainly works very well, a beautiful sketch!

Susan Bronsak said...

Maree.........thank you for the lovely comment! I miss these little guys. I think in the last couple of weeks we've seen one or two of the last transients headed back south.

I look forward to next Spring when they return :-)