White-Breasted Nuthatch

MEDIUM: Digital Painting | STYLE: Painterly Realism | SIZE: 8 x 10 | ORIENTATION: Landscape | TOOLS: Procreate, 13″ iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro, Giclee Fine Art Archival paper and ink | AVAILABILITY: Prints available.

The White-Breasted Nuthatch is a small bird and easily overlooked. Found climbing vertically on tree trunks, it is the only bird known to walk head-first down a trunk. Despite its small size making it hard to locate, careful observation can reveal this bird by its beautiful blue and white plumage.

ARTIST’S PROCESS: White-Breasted Nuthatch was painted in Procreate on a 13″ iPad Pro using the Apple Pencil Pro. This work replicates traditional painting’s depth and texture through layered digital brushwork. It begins with careful structural drawing, followed by multiple rounds of color blocking, value refinement, and detail work on feather texture to capture the species’ appearance and temperament. Shadow and light are created using multiple Procreate layers and specific brushes, and the background is a true-to-life photo painted into the canvas to tell the story of the subject.

CHALLENGE: This bird was not photographed in its natural habitat, having been enticed to land on a concrete porch by the promise of fresh sunflower seeds. Instead of the expected background of tree bark and foliage, it was necessary to approximate a very different surface. Achieving the concrete’s texture and appearance required combining patterns from several different texture brushes in the Procreate brush set, each placed on separate layers. Every layer was then color-adjusted so that, combined, the result matched the color and texture of the concrete in the reference photo.

SUBJECTS AND THEMES: Wildlife — Long Island Wildlife — White-Breasted Nuthatch — Backyard Birds — Birding — Nature — Painterly Realism — Procreate Artwork