Duck Stamp

This is my submission for the Junior Duck Stamp Contest. I chose the draw wood ducks—a male, a female, and four ducklings. My media for this project was watercolor and colored pencil on paper.

My first step in creating this piece was composing a reference image. I wanted to include multiple wood ducks but wanted to use them and the background from different sources. To do this I used photoshop to paste the ducks I wanted onto my chosen background. I then printed and gridded my reference photo along with my drawing paper. I started with the background, creating a base grey color with watercolor. I then drew the ducks in colored pencil and finished by going over the background in colored pencil to create the exact shades I wanted. The major elements of design in this piece are color and texture. I chose to draw wood ducks partially for their brighter coloration, especially in the males. Texture was important in the background because I wanted the water to look as realistic as possible. I used selective focus in this piece by using a lot of detail on the ducks and using more broad shading for the background to make the ducks the focal point. This project evolved in that I was initially going to use watercolor for the entire piece but switched to colored pencil because I wasn't able to produce the level of detail that I wanted in watercolor.

I chose to draw wood ducks not only for their coloration but because they are a Maine species. This project relates to my life because every summer my family goes to a camp on a lake similar to the one I depicted and can often see ducks swimming in the marshy areas such as this. I think this piece could be stronger if the texture of the water was more smooth and blended and if I had done a better job depicting the fallen trees at the top of the piece. These two things were the most challenging parts of the piece because they are supposed to be in soft focus. I am most proud of how I drew the male wood duck, especially the colors on its head. This piece demonstrates my strength as an artist in composition and attention to detail. It shows my weakness in my unrealistic depiction of the background.