Nuthatch, 6x6 Original Oil Painting

Nutchatch 6 x 6" Original Oil on Canvas

I first paint the canvas black and then paint the subject of the painting. The background is painted last. I try to let the black areas show thorough the painting and not paint the black again. It's a bit tricky to do. It's like painting inside the lines before the lines exist.

I love the loose quality of this painting and the colours. Lots of textures appear on the surface of the canvas. This painting is on gallery wrapped canvas with black painted sides. Nuthatches frequently visit my bird feeders and for a while I took photographs of them. The birds look great hung together, but they are great on their own as well.