Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio, watercolour and gouache on toned board, 29 x 25 cm,  © Matteo Grilli 2015

The following original watercolours have been recently added to my online gallery:

Portrait of a Jabiru - part three -

Portrait of a Jabiru 3/3, watercolour on paper, 22 x 19 cm, © Matteo Grilli 2013

The following original artwork was selected among the finalists for the Lethbridge Small-scale Art Award and is for sale on their website:

Silent Encounters, 25 x 31 cm, watercolour on paper, © Matteo Grilli 2013

Feather, Beetle and Skull: painting blacks without black

From left: feather of a Tawny Frogmouth, Podargus strigoides; Rhinoceros Beetle, Xylotrupes ulysses; skull of a Pied Butcherbird, Cracticus nigrogularis.

This small painting is a technical exploration on how to reach the darkest darks without using any black-containing pigment - no black, neutral tint, Payne's grey, seppia or indigo. A bit daunting considering that neutrals have always been my favourite and most used colours from the beginning. Yet I can now say that chromatic greys offer a neverending, moody, subtle and beautiful alternative to the black pigments. Colours used: Perylene Maroon, Phthalo Green, Prussian Blue, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium (opaque) White for the very last few details on the beetle.

Silent Encounters - Part 2

Watercolour on paper, 38x25cm, © Matteo Grilli 2012

The young one was restless, begging for food, but the parents were very quiet and still, the female was looking at me through the branches. Male and female have a slightly different colour, males tend to be grayish, females have a reddish or tawny shade on their feathers. Juveniles are something in between with darker  marks especially over the head.

 

Detail

It is surprising to see their agility and nocturnal activity comparing to their sleepy and quiet behaviour during the day. When threatened, they rely on their amazing camouflage, standing still and assuming an elongated posture to resemble a dead branch.
 

Work in progress

Tawny Frogmouths are very elusive an mysterious birds, hiding many secrets about their behaviour and biology. Professor Gisela Kaplan's book Tawny Frogmouth reveals many of this bird's secrets, it is the most comprehensive book about this 'Aussie icon' so far, gathering years of research revealing its very surprising hidden secrets. A truly recommended read.

Tools

At the end of these two paintings 'Silent Encounters' linked by the same story and experience, I was a bit surprised that 95% of the colours used is a mixture of just Burnt Umber and Neutral Tint, making it all appearing rather monochromatic.

Silent Encounters - Part 1

Watercolour on paper, 38x30 cm, life-size

It is difficult to spot Tawny Frogmouths. Walking through the park I noticed three Magpies on the ground, all three looking very inquisitive and curious towards another bird right between them. The bird was facing away from me so I could only see its back side, a big round head and a rounded body nearly invisible because of its amazing camouflage. Strange to see one on the ground in the daylight.

On my desk

Although Tawny Frogmouths - Podargus strigoides - are very similar to owls, they are not, they belong to the order of Caprimulgiformes and to the Frogmouth family, Podargidae. They are very skilled night hunters with big eyes and very soft feathers for a perfectly silent flight. The Magpies eventually lost interest and the bird (a female) then flew after a few minutes on a nearby tree where a nearly fully grown young was looking straight at me. On another branch there was what looked like the remains of an old nest, a flimsy pile of thin twigs,  half of it on the ground. I found some feathers.

Work in progress

When painting feathers there is often a feeling of being more a scientist than an artist, or something in between at least, like observing things through a microscope or a magnifying glass. Their feathers are covered with a layer of what appears to be fur, very very soft and this is the reason for their silent flight, just like owls.

Detail

To be continued next week...

More from the Sleeping Birds series....

Female Golden-shouldered Parrot, water colour on paper, 25x20.5cm, 2011. The species is endangered, they have a very intimate relationship with termites, they make their nest inside termites mounds at the same time the young termites bugs are hatching, so the termites keep the yung parrots warm and the baby parrots provide termites with food that is their droppings.. a good example of cooperation.

 
Tawny Frogmouth, water colour on paper, 24.5x28.5, 2011.

Different colours for different lives

The charm of Tawny Frogmouths

The air was thick with water, mosquitos everywhere eating us. The sun was pale at the Boondall Wetlands as we walked along a path that has been flooded recently after the heavy rains. Suddenly we saw her, the long awaited sighting has been finally accomplished. She soon realized we were watching her so she started 'being a branch'. The tawny, reddish colour of some feathers tells us it's a female. I wonder how many times we walked by a Tawny Frogmouth without seeing anything but being unwittingly watched.