Bird #6 Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise

Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise (Seleucidis melanoleucus)
Mixed media (colored paper cutout & permanent marker), 06 January 2013, 11" x 13.75"

For an explanation of my choice of media and my perspective on Birds of Paradise, check out the previous post of my King Bird of Paradise executed in the same style... or you can squint to read the print in the screen capture below. This piece was created as a complementary companion to the King B.O.P. piece.

The fraternal twins side by side:

The Twelve-wired (33-35 cm) is about twice the size of the King (16-19 cm) in life- so I ended up illustrating them a bit larger, but the two species are still not depicted to scale.

Here my artwork is pictured with the Autumn 2012 issue of Living Bird magazine. The cover photo by Tim Laman served as a reference material for this piece. There are many more amazing photographs of the Birds of Paradise in the magazine and on Tim Laman's website.

No one had anything to say when I originally posted the King B.O.P. here on the blog. A few friends on Facebook made comments when I posted it there, but I guess you could call them art hippies.

Too weird for commentary

Perhaps it was just a little too unusual for anyone to comment, but hopefully a brave soul will share their thoughts about this style now.

Please don't be afraid... any and all comments welcome.

Fish #2 Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) with fly rod
Mixed media (pen & ink, permanent marker, and colored pencil) on paper, 30 December 2012, 11" x 13.5"

This piece is a little darker in real life and the accents of color don't show up very well here. It's mostly just black & white, but there are some green accents and the background is brown colored pencil. I really need a scanner to capture these art pieces better. Photos just don't serve them very well.

Here's my original photograph that served as the basis for this piece. As usual, I've changed a few details.

This fish was caught on 23 June 2007, just as a rain began at Nonconnah Creek- a notoriously funky ditch in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person to ever disgrace a fly rod by taking one down into Nonconnah, but as you can see there are fish to be caught. The fish above was the second of two similar sized Largemouths I caught that day- both on the surface, both as the rain was beginning to come down. This was the first of the pair...

Maybe I'll eventually draw it too. Stay tuned.

Fish #1 Longear Sunfish

Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)
Mixed media (permanent marker & colored pencil), 21 December 2012, 11" x 13.5"

This is my artistic interpretation of the Longear photo that has graced the header of my blog, The Naturalist's Angle, for well over a year now. I've liked it so much that I haven't really gotten the urge to change it... like so many of my fellow fly fisher bloggers do with their headers. This fish was caught in July of 2007 on the South Fork of the Spring River in Arkansas. I used my artistic license to alter a few things from the original image, but I'll leave it to the viewer to figure out those details.

I have wanted to draw a Longear for a long time, and I think it turned out pretty much like I had envisioned. I believe Longear Sunfish are one of the most beautiful fish that swim in freshwater, and I imagine this won't be the last one I illustrate.

Bird #3 King Bird of Paradise

King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius)- male & female
Mixed media (colored paper cutout & permanent marker), 18 December 2012, 11" x 13.5"

This one is a bit different. The paper cutouts are a tribute to Henri Matisse. My reason for taking this approach reflects some of my perspective on the biological concept of sexual selection. In many cases where sexually selected traits influence mate choice, the females are choosing males that have the ability to survive while maintaining brilliant coloration and adornments that most certainly oppose forces of natural selection. Simply put, being brightly colored with all sorts of decoration does not aid the individual male's basic survival, but if he wants to reproduce (and increase his biological fitness) he has to be "pretty" in her eyes.

We certainly don't understand all that a female Bird of Paradise takes into consideration when making her mate choice, but I imagine she sees a male as a distinct pattern of colors (hence my choice for paper cutouts)... and if anything is out of place, he will not win her favor. Missing a delicate tail feather? Sorry, Mr. Bird of Paradise, you lose.

Of course, complex and ritualized mating displays and "dances" are an important part of mate choice for Birds of Paradise as well.

Poor little guys have a lot to do to impress the ladies... makes me really glad I'm not a Bird of Paradise.