Sketching Phoebe Allens--Vickie Henderson

Phoebe Allens is a female Allen's Hummingbird who lives in the Channel Islands, Orange County, California. She is incubating two eggs and has her own live video cam and broadcast. And what a treat!
I started watching her yesterday and couldn't stop. It was amazing to see her bring nesting materials to add to her nest, hear her zip off for a few minutes, see her stand up and reposition the eggs, then watch her settle down again, wiggling until everything was just right. Immediately, I wanted to sketch her.

And so I did. Several times. Since its cold outside, this turned out to be a fun (and warm) way to practice sketching a moving subject. She's moving all the time, though not as fast as we have come to expect. The unusual, of course, is that you get to see her upclose.

Try it and see if you don't fall in love with her. And keep in mind, the female hummingbird is the sole gatherer and builder of the nest and the only provider for the young. And in Phoebe's case... she was photographed incubating one nest while she still had juveniles in another! You'll find this image by clicking on the 'photos' link at the top of the cam page.

To see Phoebe visit: http://cam.dellwo.com/
To see more sketches of Phoebe, visit Vickie Henderson Art.