I’ve begun broad-wing hawk #2, using the same sized canvas and a similar background as the first one. Since this one has just nabbed a frog, the title is ‘Dinner Time’.

My reference is a photo by the excellent photographer Tammy Block. I have permission to use the photo, and she gets 10% on the sale of the original painting. So one purchase supports two artists 🙂 She let me know she has almost all of the hawks in her files, so I’m hopeful she’ll have the Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned, too! This year, I hope to add several to the roster of paintings of my Ozark Birds of Prey series.

The Reference

Photo of a broad-wing hawk by Tammy Block. I’ll use only the bird, the frog, and the stump. The background will be a mottled earthy abstract like the first painting.

Progress

I’ll update this section as I get more done on it. Check back often!

Notes

2/18/24 4th, 5th, 6th images: this morning I woke at 4 and couldn’t get back to sleep. So at 4:30, I got up and began painting. 0930 and I’m down to his feet and froggy dinner and then done by noon. I think I’ll leave the stump unfinished on the right side.

2/17/2024 3rd image. I put in the eye and beak, but it’s still too wet to work on anything, so that’s it for today. I’m finding that I am frustrated working on such a small scale. The next of my raptors will be larger.

2/16/24 Second image. Outline is dry. Blocked in the body. I wish I would have blocked in the body while the outline was wet, because the beak extends just a little too far and now the black line is dry. I’ll have to retouch the background to cover that and it may not be as perfect as I’d like, but I’ll have to take ‘good enough’.

Previously: The background is dry when I start with the outline. I used a paint brush to draw a rough outline of the broad-wing hawk. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it gives me the guidelines for where the bird will be.

Mostly, I need that to make sure the head and tail or feet don’t end up off the canvas. Although, in this case, the tail will be very close to the edge. That was intentional, because I wanted the bird large enough to be able to work more easily on getting some level of detail. And I’d rather give up space for the tail than for the head.

More of the Broad-Wing Soon

I’ll post updates as I have them. Once I know it’s going to ‘work’ as a painting, I’ll make a listing for it at my shop in the ‘On the Easel’ category. While my work is on the easel, until it’s varnished and ready to ship, there’s always a discount for pre-purchases.

Thanks for following along!