This painting is starting to be fun. Today I was using fingers, rolling brushes and all sorts. The owner of Bertie has told me anything goes, and not to be too photographic. As I'm working in oils it gives me the opportunity to work with textures.

I'll be honest I'm making this up as I go along.

I know I want to try to capture the movement of him precariously perched on the colinder.

I hate feathers

It's not a good thing to discover that feathers are very difficult things to paint this early into a parrot painting. Today I've spent a long time trying to really understand how they work. You can't successfully simplify until you truly understand it. I think I'm beginning to, but I am still struggling with the overall shape of his head.

Bertie

My next commission, a parrot called Bertie. He's a character, generally up to no good! He's learnt to say 'wine o'clock' so I approve of him!

I'm back painting in oils after a long break. I'm using a 16x12 deep profile canvas.

I'm interested in all the colours in the greys, he's a grey parrot, perched on a metal colander. There's also lots of different textures to consider, Bertie's soft feathers, compared to the hard shiney metal.