gannets

One of the miniatures I am currently working on is of gannets and a few weeks ago there were lots of them about for several days, close in to shore so an excellent opportunity to grab some reference!

Since they move so fast, I am relying heavily on lots of videos I took as well as still photos to help me with the painting - which is a good thing as quite a few of the stills consist of nothing more than splashes in the water... Luckily I can freeze the video (which I did for the photo above) and slow it right down - this has made such a difference to understanding what is going on and the contortions they can get into as they dive.

It is great fun to watch them and while I have the videos out anyway to work from, I put some bits together to share with you, just click on it below. They are such beautiful birds and I hope you enjoy a slice of Orkney. I tried including a piece of one diving in slow motion which I hope works ok. (Your ears aren't deceiving you either - that is a blackbird you can hear amongst the cries of the terns as I was standing in the garden :)). As far as the new miniature goes, I'm still working on the composition just now but I'll post the finished painting when I'm done. Eventually.

barn owl miniature painting

Barn Owl © Tracy Hall 2011

3.5" x 1.5" watercolour on board

I shall be doing a larger painting of barn owls later in the year and while working on the sketches for the client's approval, I couldn't resist doing a miniature of a barn owl as well. So here it is :)

We don't get barn owls this far north, but they are fairly widespread in the rest of the UK and I think they are one of the prettiest owls. You can find out more about them at The Barn Owl Trust.

Apologies to those who were trying to follow the link to the miniature painting demo of the gorilla on the sidebar - link was wrong, now fixed :)

mute swan miniature painting

Untitled (mute swan) © Tracy Hall 2011

1.75" x 3.75" watercolour on rag board

('ghost' penny shown for scale)

We have been enjoying a few days of beautiful weather in the northern isles - with the odd shower admittedly, but basically lovely and so good to see the sun! While I'm busy with paintings for jigsaw companies on the big easels, I did manage to finish this little miniature of a mute swan preening on stenness loch. I've yet to come up with a suitable title (or even an unsuitable one) but it was a peaceful scene to paint.

I thought you might also enjoy meeting our newest family member, Ryu the bearded dragon. We think he is absolutely adorable (and he's cuddlier than you would guess). Cue 'epic pose' -

orangutan miniature watercolour painting

'Orangutan' © Tracy Hall 2011

1.75" x 4" watercolour on board

My latest miniature features an Orangutan, based on photos my husband kindly took for me on a recent visit to Hong Kong zoo. I would love to have the chance to see these incredible apes in the wild some day. Meantime I have a horrible cold so my apologies for the short post but my brain isn't working very well this morning!

The Orangutan Foundation has a new fund-raising project to mark their 20th Anniversary and if you would like to help you can donate to it here: ‘20/20 Vision of a Future - for Orangutans, Forests and People'