Study of a hummingbird

The Doctor Bird is the national bird of Jamaica and one of my absolute favourites. Outside of the country it is called the streamertail hummingbird, for the two long tail feathers the males have.

Coming from a Chinese-Jamaican background, I do like to spend a lot of time in the country I grew up in. One one of my visits, I was lucky enough to photograph both a male and a female hummingbird. The male is quite a bit showier than the female and I was inspired to paint him.

I paint drier with watercolours because I like the precision I can acheive. They look a little bit like guache, but I can layer them to try to emulate the irridescence of the bird's feathers.