Miniature Painting - No 32 - Baby Barn Swallow

Next up in my miniature paintings project is a young barn swallow. I took the reference photo for this adorable little baby bird in Astoria, Oregon a couple years ago. It was a nice sunny August morning. He was relaxing on the railing of the beach house we were staying in, probably warming himself in the sun. He was old enough to fly but not old enough to be scared of humans yet so I was able to get within a few feet of him. He just sat there watching me while I snapped several photos.

He hadn't acquired his full adult plumage yet. Adult barn swallows are blue-black on the back. This little guy still had a lot of browns and buff colors on his back. This made him more colorful than the black would have so I wanted to capture those intense orange and rust colors that seemed to really glow in the morning sunlight.

Because he was young he still had his baby frog-like mouth, round head, and chubby little body that made him quite cute.

 6"x6" oil on Gessobord