White Stork Side

15 x 35 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

My first painting on this series, which makes it special.

The second special feature is the need I had to colour the whites. I chose to give cold and warm tones (so I didn’t have to choose), based on light coming from above.

Great Cormoran Side

18 x 59.5 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

I love cormoran dark and glancy silhouette. A particularity of waterbirds is that their feathers stick together to make them watertight, which creates very clean, flexible silhouettes, bringing them a little closer to reptiles. The  clear eyes with their small pupil turns their gaze in a viper’s one.

That Painting took part in the “The Wildlife Artist of The Year 2021” from David Shepherd Foundation. It didn’t receive any prize, but would be selected as finalist, to be part of the online exhibition in the summer (Due to Covid, the live exhibition didnt took place)

Ferruginous Hawk Side

15.7 x 37.7 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

The look of this species is particularly striking. What attracted me was the size of its eye and its clarity. The arch is particularly prominent, as it is in many birds of prey (to protect them from stray light), giving it a very severe appearance. The feather work on the body was quite complicated and I think I stopped myself at the right moment before over-doing this part, which would have been fatal.

Toco Toucan Side

22 x 48 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

How could I do a series on bird heads without enjoying a beak as wide and colourful as that of the Toucan? This bird’s well-known colour tones were a delight for me, as I love strong contrasts. Having so much room to spread your water and seeing that orange cover the white of the page was very pleasing.

Marabou Stork Side

29 x 49 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

One of the most worrying protagonists in this series (along with the Jabiru, I think). A red and black bald head, with visible skin that looks burnt. A mottled bone-coloured beak, as if sticky, at the end of which is a frightening eye. I’ve translated the blacks by blue tones, perhaps to calm the anxiety generated by this specimen.

Sagittarius Side

27.5 x 31.5 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

Sagittarius really is a bird out of a work of heroïc fantasy novel. Apart from a body of singular proportions, the male has a head all his own. A bright red-orange patch, surrounded by white and topped with long, magnificent feathers, elegantly finishing off the back of his skull. I don’t know if I’ve done his aesthetics justice, but the colour contrast is there for all to see.

Great Blue Heron Side

18.5 x 38 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

The great blue heron was my biggest challenge on this series. I started over twice to get to the final version. I wanted to depict the animal but also add the details I wanted to see. The ‘s’ shape of the neck, so particular to this species, its black/blue streak on the top of its skull, its warm yellow-orange beak. I was so taken with it, that I didn’t leave any white in the eye for a reflection.

Jabiru Side

26 x 48 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

The other somewhat frightening figure in the series is the Jabiru. Deliberately worked in very light tones, the Jabiru has a deep black head and neck, including the eye. Featherless on this part of the body, with a beak curved upwards in the shape of a hoof, I was stunned the first time I laid eyes on its silhouette. However, I didn’t want to have a lump of coal on my sheet, so I decided to treat it as a clear one.

Agami Heron Side

18.5 x 38 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

This is certainly what I’d call my favorite heron. I was captivated the day I saw it for the first time. I love everything about this bird: its shape, its colors, its eyes, its feathers… It’s rich in subtle contrasts of colors, each more seductive and varied than the last. A crimson red eye and a presence that ranks it among my favorite birds. Quite simply, it brings together a myriad of factors that define beauty in my eyes. 

Brown Pelican Side

37 x 14.5 x 0.1 cm

Watercolor on 300g. Hahnemühle paper

The pelican is an animal with a peculiar anatomy, where the functions can be seen from afar. I confess that I didn’t immediately think about the visual coherence of the series as a whole, and it turned out that this vertical format stood out among the others (which is hellish for overall visualization, but hey…I draw what I like at the time, and this approach has its shortcomings).