Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)
19 January 2013, Acrylic on cardboard, 11" x 14"
This one doesn't require much explanation. I borrowed a few techniques from watercolor to create the background, but the bird is pretty standard acrylic paintbrush application.
It took quite a while to arrive at the look I was going for with the background. After trying a bunch of different stuff that didn't really work out... and struggling to get it right... I finally resorted to watercolor tactics.
Here are a few photos of the work in progress. It's quite an evolution.
Thanks for stopping by.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Acrylic on cardboard, 29 December 2012, 11" x 13.5"
I didn't quite finish it in time for Christmas, but 'tis the season. I hope you like it, Bill. It's a bit of a different perspective for a Cardinal. I kinda thought it looked like a rock star with a mohawk from a head on view, so I went with it.
Some of the acrylic paints I used were enamels, so it was very difficult to photograph without a terrible glare. I had to take it out into natural light on the front porch for a photo... which makes it look a bit lighter than it appears in real life. I desperately need a large digital flatbed scanner for this stuff.
