On a recent trip to The Upper Murray in Victoria, every evening at around happy hour, ( which translated is drinks on the veranda at the end of the day) we were visited by the Rainbow bee-eaters feasting on bugs and playing till dusk. I did try and get some pics but I soon had myself convinced that a bigger lens for my camera was now firmly on my shopping list!

They are delightful birds to watch, agile, gorgeous colours and they make the cutest peeping sound!

I really want to paint more birds from original images, but getting images that are good enough to paint from proves tricky. I am no photographer but I am keen to improve my skills behind the lens as a tool to support the rest of my work.

The point being to capture a great image and translating it successfully to paper.

I had some more Ampersand Board products to test for work so I chose to give the Gessobord surface a go. Gessobord is a smooth board product recommended for use with oils, acrylic paint and mixed media.

Hmmm, I said.

So I went with acrylic paint because I haven't touched oils since high school and I also had some sachets of Winsor and Newton professional acrylics to try, so two birds, one stone. (pardon the pun)

Once I accepted the fact that acrylic paint is not watercolour paint and moved on, I enjoyed the process of experimenting on a new surface with new media and was able to produce a quick study of the enchanting Rainbow bee-eater.