Thursday, August 10, 2017

Robinson Crusoe Island, or where the firecrown lives

I've decided to pursue the endangered hummingbirds as my first art work for my new studio.  I'm going to start with a classic hummingbird at a flower design.  Obviously, first step is to research the flowers found on the Juan Fernandez islands.  Since I have never been to the Juan Fernandez islands and have no photos of my own, I am forced to rely on using photos from the web as references.

A little research told me that Robinson Crusoe Island is one of the islands in the cluster and that led me to a wonderful webpage,  https://www.cascada.travel/en/News/Robinson-Crusoe-Island-Wildlife-Guide.

This page has all kinds of info about the islands such as it being a National Park since 1935.  Here is where I found the name of 2 of the flowers that the Firecrown uses for food.  The Cabbage Tree (dendroseris litoralis) has large yellow flowers which will go perfectly with the teal & cobalt colors of the female Firecrown.  The first photo shows the foliage well and the drape of the flowers.

From http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/

And here's a closeup of the flower from the same webpage.



This will be a fun flower to do because of the long skinny petals which will fit perfectly with some traditional methods of piecing.

The other flowering bush that feeds the Firecrown is the Juan Bueno (rhaphithamnus venustus) tree.  It is at a much higher altitude, and has much smaller leaves than the cabbage tree which will give me some variety in the textures of the foliage which I plan to use for the background.


I've picked these 2 flowers because the colors set off the 2 colors of the Firecrown hummingbirds.  Complementary colors cause the feel of the piece to be more energetic rather than soothing and this is exactly what I want for the feisty hummingbirds.  Next step, doing the design sketches so I know what poses I like for the hummers and what the overall composition will be.

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