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| "Cardinal on Maple" sold |
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| "Robin in the Evergreen Bough" (oil, 8" x 10") sold |
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| "Blue Jay at Bird Bath" (oil, 8" x 10") sold |
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| "Early Spring Robin" (oil, 8" x 10") sold |
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| "Cardinal in the Snow" (oil, 8" x 10") sold |
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| "Winter Bird" (oil, 8" x 12") sold |
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| "Duck Pond" (oil, 8" x 10") sold |
Last fall I decided to do some bird paintings. To date, I have seven under my belt. "Cardinal on Maple" is my latest attempt at bird paintings. As you know, I am an impressionist painter, not a super realistic animal painter. So if you are an avid bird watcher and I got some avian anatomies wrong, please bear with my errors.
I am more of an opportunistic bird watcher, if there is such a thing. The other day I spotted a male cardinal perched on green shrubs outside of my laundry room. I grabbed a camera and began to click away. This bird made a terrific model, turning its head to show profile, then facing forward for the front view, and so on. This went on for a while until it decided to retire from a modeling career. I didn't dare to open the window for better shots (one knows better than that when dealing with a wildlife). After photoshopping the best shot, I came up with the picture below. Passable, yes, but the environment in which the bird was sitting left much to be desired. I did some Internet research and found a picture of a scrawny-looking cardinal on a lush maple tree.
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| My photo |
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| Reference photo for the maple tree |
I got to work and painted "Cardinal on Maple" with joyous rapidity. My gratitude goes to the anonymous photographer and the cardinal who lives in and is fiercely protective of my property.
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