During this unbearably hot stretch of weather, I thought it might be nice to mentally escape to a cooler place. I've always liked the color of the lady cardinals, though getting the subtle hues correct can be a bit of a challenge. I'll give the eBay thing a try again this Sunday evening, so when this painting goes up for auction, I'll post the link here.
This is study #2 in my miniature series. This piece is also slated to go on eBay Sunday eveing and I will post the link here.
Over the next couple of months, I've decided to work on my artistic growth. There seems to be no better way than pure mileage on my brushes. And no better way to push those miles than a dozen or so tiny studies. The focus of these studies will be to explore ways to achieve interesting light on my subjects, improve my use of color, and better my painting technique.
The past week has been a real struggle, but seeing this piece materialize has helped. This spring, a pair of killdeers were trying to nest in the middle of the neighbors' driveway. It was certainly a less than ideal location for a nest site, but we marked it with several large rocks hoping to keep cars away. After a hawk picked off one of the parents in a puff of feathers, the other loyally stayed with the nest for more than a week... even while that pesky hawk dive-bombed and neighborhood cats conducted nighttime raids. Just days before the eggs (4 of them) were about to hatch, some buffoon (probably with a cellphone stuck to their head) ran over the nest with a car, crushing the eggs and ending any chance we'd have tiny killdeers scurrying around the property. This painting is a tribute to this killdeer's admirable, yet sadly futile determination.
Well, I did it. The water in this piece is everything I'd hoped for. I was having such fun working on this piece, I kept after it far longer today than I usually work. I love what I do!
Capturing the rhythms of water and light are always a challenge. It takes a lot of time and effort to avoid that distracting "brushy" look... especially when using acrylics. That's one reason why it's always so rewarding when it works out. There is certainly a "mood" to this piece... even in these early stages. I'm hoping for a lonesome, yet hopeful piece (for some reason, ducks always seem "hopeful" to me). As you can see, the block in is complete and I've begun to add some detail and punch up the contrast. One key to getting a "glassy" look to water is taking great care to get the under-painting correct. Acrylics are far too transparent to hide a lot of sloppy prep work. Take your time and wash in thin layers with a relatively large brush... and try to keep the edges soft. They can always be hardened a bit later if necessary.
