More greetings from Switzerland! Upon stopping by for a drink during our road trip, I came across a cute little bird perched on the fence and wondered what species it was. My partner, a bird spotter, pointed out that it’s an Alpen Kauw in German, otherwise known as Alpine Chough in English. Part of the crow family, it breeds in high altitudes in high mountains starting in Spain eastwards to as far as Nepal! Typical features are they are black with bright yellow beak and orange feet. Fascinating! More about this here. And so cute it is that I wanted to paint about it!
Not often that I get to go for a bird, so why not? I don’t mind a bit of challenge! And on my tiny Strathmore Visual Journal, I firstly set about sketching one with my aquarelle pencils which are water soluble so they would blend beautifully when watercolors are introduced. Second step was going over it with SAI Japanese Traditional Colors and spreading with a wet brush. Colors were further enhanced with my travel-sized Sennelier watercolor set. Initially the bird looked rather streaky with the black marker but the Payne’s Grey watercolor helped unite it all together, Quite simply painted but here you are!
And what fun that was! A challenge as said earlier but so satisfying when done and somewhat resembles the intended Alpine Chough. Since my partner enjoys bird-spotting. I might like to, for fun, go for other species too!
