Mountain Bluebirds migrate north in February in the Southwest U.S. As I was walking up a familiar path in the Sandia Mountain foothills in the late afternoon, a male bird in spring plumage flew in a perched on the round granite boulder in front of a larger wall of rock with an incredible green bloom of lichen. the grasses behind the bird were illuminated by the low sunlight, and the pinkish granite wall contrasted with the bright green. For once, I had my good camera with me, and I managed to get the shot.

It took some thought to arrive at good color mixes for granite, and a lot of swatching as well for the greens. The bluebird was the easiest part. I did have resort to masking fluid for the grasses, as there was not a chance that I would negative paint around them. I painted on my favor Daler-Rowney Langton rough.