Sometimes the only opportunity to take photographs is from the back seat of a moving vehicle. No time to think ― just point and click. It helps if you are really quick and a little bit lucky. When you see the original shot prior to cropping (below), you could be forgiven for thinking that there was nothing much in this scene worth painting…

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…but I zoomed in and used the scribble sketch to figure out my composition. I’m now painting the landscape and building up lots of lovely textures, and then I’ll have to figure out the best way to paint the cockatoo — too realistic and he won’t have the sense of fun I want to create; too abstract and no one will know he’s a bird. Wish me luck : )