Kittiwakes

• Subject: Kittiwakes in the Farne Islands
• Medium:Watercolour
• Completion Date: March 31, 2003
• Completion Time: 70 hours
• Dimensions: 10'' X 14''
• Background: Rock-face and sea

The main challenge in creating this portrait was to produce a scene from within a scene.  By developing a key section from a photograph of the Farne Islands I was able to focus in on the view of the Kittiwakes environment.  I removed the Guillemots which were dominating the composition and after researching images of Kittiwakes I painted the full image of a bird guarding over the chicks.

I wanted to experiment with textures to create the bleached effect on the rocks threaded with colour.  I achieved this by detailed application of masking fluid to create the white veining on the rocks,  I then laid down several washes in pastel colours in order to build up depth.  To create the sea I used a strong prussian blue wash with a horizontal wet-on-wet application of indigo blue, giving the sea movement and making the rock scene appear in the foreground.