One of my favorite things about spring and summer in Montana are hummingbirds! These little guys are so interesting because – how do their wings beat so fast? Why do they sound like giant cicadas when they whiz by me? How do they just hold themselves in place like that? And have you ever seen a baby one? I haven’t in person – only ever in pictures, and they are so tiny you would miss them if you weren’t paying attention.
The coloring on these little guys and gals is also something to behold, so when working with this piece I tried to use colors that were a little contrasty to the actual bird, but colors that were also soft that showed how light and delicate they are.
As with all of my paintings, it went through a few iterations before I figured out where the painting was taking me. I started with a a dark background, thinking that it might be a night scene. I thought maybe there might be a fence in the background, maybe a tree? I usually lay down all kinds of things on the background – in no real order, as I like to see what comes out of it naturally. After a few sittings of moving the background all around, I ended up in a field of flowers – however, the position of the hummingbird never changed. I always have a good grasp on the main subject and where I want it – but the background and surrounding area is where I choose to “dabble”.
What is your favorite thing about hummingbirds?