Gambel’s Quail watercolor

As mentioned in the previous post, here’s the same Quail in watercolor and the closeup reference photo my Landlord shot a few years ago. This is officially the first bird I’ve done in watercolor and was intended to be a sketch as opposed to a formal painting. That’s probably obvious but I thought explaining the intent might put it in perspective. The pencil rough-in sketch took maybe an hour. As it turns out, getting a likeness in a bird portrait is just as difficult as getting one in a human portrait.😁 That surprised a bit. But hey, it’s all about practice to get faster and thinking about how to loosen it up a bit. That’s where I want to head with it so field sketching won’t turn into plein air paintings instead.
On to the next one friends…
Happy Thanksgiving and thanks so much for following and supporting what I’m doing here. You are very much appreciated!
One of these quail showed up in my GWS backyard one day. I had no idea what it was, and when I found out I felt so fortunate! And, my two cats stayed clear of it.
Love your rendition.
Thanks Mary! Glad you like it.🙂
They are pretty common over here on the western slope. I saw them in GA too. They have sweet little chicks that follow mom around like ducklings. 🙂