Sunshine and Ice

It's a beautiful day here in Yorkshire, too hot in fact for poor Roma whose puppies are due next week.
I even saw a Hummimg Bird Hawk moth in the garden this morning, I'd never seen one before and had to 'Ask Jeeves' what sort of insect looked like a Hummimg Bird. Sadly by the time I got the camera out it had gone to find a more tasty variety of plant.

I decided it was time to get a move on and finish my gesso experiments, so out came the penguins.
I completed the feet in coloured pencil and then added more acrylic to the background, a mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Payne's Grey and White.
The bodies need some colour adding to develop form, but then I'm going to varnish them, frame them and let my son have them. I have been fighting with the grain, I didn't put enough layers of gesso on, or sand well enough, so I'm not sure if I will repeat the exercise.

penguin
acrylic painting
Humming Bird Hawk Moth