Blue Jay ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Songbirds & Friends The Kyoto pigments are made

The Kyoto pigments are made from natural ingredients — oyster shells

Green heron plumage is extraordinary — deep chestnut

every feather reaching upward as if the bird is breathing in the entire atmosphere

trading positions in a line with a cooperative efficiency that looks choreographed

building the complex white-and-dark plumage through layered dry strokes that create physical texture on the paper's surface

Blue Jay ~ "Songbirds & Friends" ~ Watercolor Songbirds & Friends The Kyoto pigments are madeThis blue jay watercolor painting captures the loudest personality in any backyard. Blue jays are bold, intelligent, and entirely unapologetic about taking up space. They mimic hawk calls to scare other birds away from feeders. They cache thousands of acorns. They travel in noisy family groups and announce themselves before they arrive. This painting catches that confident, unmissable energy. I painted this freehand on archival cotton rag paper using