Swallow Flying
Todays watercolour sketch is a Swallow Flying or should I say a Flying Swallow, either way it’s a Swallow bird in flight. It is hard to catch an image of the Swallow Flying, they move so swiftly and gracefully. They have a high pitched chirp, that catches your attention, before you see the Swallow above you.
The Swallow Flying is another sign that the warmer weather is on it’s way, but I think they got it wrong this year. The high winds we are experiencing at the moment, certainly make it feel cold here in Shropshire. I usually see the Swallows early evening, just before the sun starts to set. They fly around in pairs, catching the flies in the air. They occasionally perform aerial acrobatics around our outbuildings during the day, but it is the evening when they really take flight.
Swallow Flying painting process
I started the Swallow watercolour with a quick pencil drawing, just a basic shape. Then I started mixing the palette colours I needed. The blue for the Swallow was a mix of two blue watercolours and part of the grey palette mix I had created. My watercolours were all mixed from primary colours, blue, yellow and red.
I painted the blue areas of the Swallow first, then I started to paint the open wing of the Swallow, with a pale yellow, brown watercolour mix. I used the grey and brown watercolour mixes to create feather movement within the body of the Swallow Flying. Two brushes were used for this watercolour, one for overall of the Swallow and a smaller brush for the Swallow’s eye and beak detail.
It is difficult to photograph a Swallow in flight. After several attempts I managed to capture a photo. They move very quickly. Most of my images were of the sky. I used this photograph as a reference to paint the Swallow Flying.