Earlier this summer, one of my friends from the RAL Art Center asked if I ever painted hummingbirds. I had to tell her I did not mainly because I could never get a decent photo. For some reason my brain wants to work from a clear photo and catch the movement frozen in time. I haven’t learned how to do that yet with my camera. But yesterday, while sorting through my stack of reference photos I realized that part of the whole “personality” of the hummingbird is its constant movement. What better way to portray that aspect of these little flying jewels than to figure out a way to paint the movement.

So, here is the reference photo:

The block in:

And the final painting.