Blue Tit in Flight

Blue Tit in Flight, Watercolour on 280g Fabriano NOT Paper, 7'5"x5'5", 19cm x 14cm

At the drawing stage, I wasn't quite sure about this painting but it turned out OK, I think. It is painted on NOT paper which has slightly rough texture, and I was drawing using hard graphite pencil and I didn't much like the quality of the lines I was getting, or the scratchy sensation I was getting from the paper surface. That doesn't bother me when I am drawing the landscape. I think it's the small bird and its delicate feathers that don't quite match the paper surface or the drawing medium I was using. Next time I paint a bird, I think I should try smooth paper and see how it feels like.

Having said this, I am quite happy how it turned out. To finish off the painting, I put a tiny tiny amount of white gouache in its eye. If I have to put the highlight at the end, it is always a nervous moment. The eyes make or break the painting, if I put just slightly wrong amount of white and the eyes would look all wrong. Thankfully for this painting it worked.