Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Barn Owl hunting 1 - Maree

“Something in the air this morning made me feel like flying. . . " 

Brown Stabilo Fine point 0.4 pen sketch on a coffee-painted back-ground – DalerRowney 300gsm 

The Barn Owl (Tyta alba) is a frequent visitor to my property and is not shy to hunt in broad daylight. I often see one pouncing on something in the long grass during the day, flying off with its prize, probably to feed some babies. 

Barn Owls love to use man-made structures to build their nests and are very partial to nest boxes one supplies. I’ve always had a box or two in my garden but, sadly to say, the weather has taken it’s toll on them and seeing as I’m past the stage of climbing trees to put one up, it’ll have to wait until I find someone young and agile to do the job for me! 

::

6 comments:

  1. Another fine coffee painting Maree. I assume the coffee actually stains the paper and is resistant to blotting or scrubbing, right? Whenever I'd ask my watercolor teacher a question like this, she tell me to "go write a paper" so feel free to tell me to figure it out for myself. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha! Oh no Paula! Even after drying, if you wet the coffee again it flows and can come off. Painting on top with other colours has to be a fairly quick (and not too wet) process, otherwise it turns into mud. And you can wet it and 'lift' sections as with watercolours. The coffee does not actually 'stain' as tea does. You really should (if you have not already) give it a try. Thanks a lot, glad you like it!

      Delete
  2. Wow! thanks Maree. You've saved me from "writing a paper." I'm really anxious to try this out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great stuff, looking forward to seeing your sketches!

      Delete

We'd love to hear from you, your questions, comments, observations! Please feel free to comment, feedback is important to us.