The Animal Art Blog

Flying Beneath The Waves

Rocky the Rockhopper penguin diving beneath the waves. I adore penguins and for this painting I really wanted to get a feeling of the water itself, the space he’s flying through with such ease. When you watch penguins under water they move so amazingly well, like bird shaped torpedoes.

diving-rockhopper-painting

So the idea started with trying to capture him ‘in flight’  under water. Once Rocky was painted I wanted to add some extra dimensions to the painting. I started by adding drops of acrylic paint to form bubbles. I let them set fully as nice distinct drops and then I added several layers of clear acrylic gels so that Rocky really appears to be under water.

diving-rockhopper-detail3

I also used some photo luminescent crystals in the paint so that Rocky would glow in the dark. As light levels fall they glow blue. It’s very hard to photograph though.

I loved painting this one and I loved rocky so much I would happily have kept him. But he’s already gone to his new home.

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