Kingfisher paintings inspired by intensive studies

Kingfisher inspiration

Electric blue and accented in bright orange, kingfishers are undoubtedly Britain's most striking birds. This art collection follows an intensive study of their behaviour, during which I filmed kingfisher chicks inside their underground nests.

The kingfisher collection

The sight of a kingfisher is often no more than a fleeting flash of blue as it darts along a riverbank and so in order to study this bird for this collection of detailed paintings, I set up a hide to photograph them as they fished, courted and even nested. Below are two paintings informed by these intensive studies. 

Kingfisher on Willow | Limited Edition Print | Available Here

 

Colourful Kingfisher | Limited Edition Print | Available Here

Studies of kingfisher courtship

From my hide, I also watched the unusual courtship behaviour of kingfishers. Normally solitary, these birds come together somewhat reluctantly to mate, and their rituals of feeding and displaying can be quite tense to watch.

Click here to read more about this courtship behaviour

A Splash of Colour | Limited Edition Print | Available Here

In this painting, the male dives into the water to catch fish for his intended. This composition is a departure from my usual style since it captures the intense energy as the kingfisher lifts out of the water leaving behind a tremendous splash. For the painting below, I also chose to capture the action as a male offered a gift of fish to the female. This is an important part of their courting ritual. If you don't know the difference, female kingfishers have a smear of orange along their lower bills, like lipstick. 




 Inspired by kingfisher nests

The painting below was inspired by watching kingfishers in their dark underground nest. I built an artificial nest alongside my hide so that I could watch this secret moment and my film of the chicks was the first colour footage of its kind. 

Click here for the story of filming the chicks underground

Inspired by Kingfisher Chicks

After watching the kingfisher chicks hatch inside their dark nest, I followed their story to see them as they took their first flights. The painting below was inspired by these fledglings: 

Winter studies

I continued to study kingfishers all year round and the following painting was inspired by watching one in the depth of winter. This is when kingfisher pairs break up to continue their solitary lives. In the composition below, I perched a male kingfisher alone on a frosted hawthorn branch. 

Kingfisher, the Winter Watcher | Limited Edition Print | Available Here

The painting below features a female kingfisher fishing from rushes along a riverbank. I chose this colourless backdrop so that the bird's electric blue would sing out all the more brilliantly, as is the case on a dull winter's day.

Kingfisher on Rushes | Limited Edition Print | Available Her

Kingfisher art

The following artwork is one I painted some time ago, note how the style is very different to my later works. 



Click here to see all my available kingfisher art prints