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Hi, friends!
I saw a Black-capped Chickadee for the first time when I moved to where I live now. Dee dee dee deeeee! There were approximately 8 to 10 perched on the branches of the large pine tree opposite my front door. Once in a while a couple of them seemed to trade spots. Puffy and round, with high contrast plumage, these small birds were eye-catching.
That winter on a tree close to my living room window, I hung suet cages and a large bird feeder that I filled with a nut, seed, and fruit mix that the chickadees seemed to like. They were soon joined at the feeder by White- and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Dark-eyed Juncos. In the spring, finches and woodpeckers joined the buffet as did the squirrels. (I’ve tried so many different “squirrel-proof” feeders that are anything but, so if you have suggestions please let me know!)
The chickadees are curious birds and used to perch on branches around the feeder to watch me fill it. They haven’t done that for the last several years, and I wonder if that is because they sense my unrest and anxiety. We are intrinsically tuned into nature (if we just listen), so it’s not surprising that the birds can pick up what emanates from us!
Livestream Notes
Shades of Black (Time Stamp 00:00)
Mixing black instead of using a tube color ensures that your painting retains color harmony and avoids creating mud from hidden complementary colors. My personal “chromatic” black mix is Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7) mixed with equal part Anthraquinoid Red (PR177). From there I can introduce other colors from my palette to influence the tone or simply increase the red or the green to warm it up or cool it down.
Sketching The Chickadee (Time Stamp 08:13)
Using the skills we talked about in previous livestreams, I create a pen sketch of the chickadee. Since this is my sketchbook, my marks are loose and free — and often in the wrong place. I don’t worry about it since I’ll correct it with darker lines or with paint as the drawing develops. Drawing is a process, so don’t be precious about your sketchbook/nature journals. It’s there for you to gather information and explore.
Mixing Black From Three Primaries (Time Stamp 33:57)
I mix primaries from my field kit palette to create black by first creating a dark purple with the red and blue, then adding the yellow to create a rich brown. I’ll mute the brown with blue until black emerges. From there I can shift the tone warm or cool by adding yellow or blue, respectively.
Painting A Black-Capped Chickadee (Time Stamp 37:11)
The black can be watered down to make grey. Shifting the tone warmer or cooler is done the same way as with full-strength black. I use my brush and the paint to “scribble” in the shadow under lighter colored feathers to make them pop up and add texture.
So there you have it! We’ll be working more with birds for a while. It seems a lot of people noticing the chickadees in their area this week.
wrote this wonderful piece about Black-capped Chickadees that I highly recommend.
xoSusannah
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