These watercolour paintings were a commission from Mystique55 (Adler and Company Ltd.,) in a collaboration with Tim Flach the celebrated British photographer who specialises in studio imagery of animals which combine fine art, portraits and wildlife photography.

The paintings are watercolour versions of the photographs (© Tim Flach) and they have been combined with striking geometric backgrounds in a range of limited edition luxury fine bone china items.

The pieces can be found on mystique55.com

Because the colour was so important in these paintings I used many layers of intense watercolour to achieve the necessary hue. My series 7, Finest Sable Winsor and Newton watercolour brushes were indispensable for this project as they keep a needle point and hold a huge amount of paint. Unfortunately after 11 paintings the points are no longer pin sharp so will have to be replaced at some point.

I used Fabriano 4 pure white cartridge paper as it stands up to lots of paint and colours appear brilliant.

I lightboxed the basic shapes and feathers and then drew carefully from reference photos. Feathers are difficult to keep track of but I hope I have done then justice. I also ruined a few brushes using Winsor & Newton colourless art masking fluid. Zest masking fluid remover worked fairly well but the brushes are really hors de combat!