Fulvous Whistling Duck

For this project, I was entering the Maine Junior Duck Stamp competition. Duck stamps are ways to promote wildlife and habitat conservation. I made this for a competition for the State Duck Stamp. The requirements were to create an image, including specific kinds of birds, with an original composition. I started by looking at the provided options of ducks and ended up deciding on the fulvous whistling duck.

I started the project by deciding materials: acrylic paint. I painted a grey/blue background to make it look foggy in the sky. I then used a pencil to sketch my composition of the ducks. I added blue in the background for the water, planning to paint the ducks in front of it, so that they are clearly further forward. I used browns and red as the bases of the ducks, adding finer details afterwards. I liked having the ducks at different perspectives in the piece, so I had one up close, and the other three in the back more. I also added green down at the base of the piece. I used a fine paint brush, with different shades of green paint to add texture to the habitat. I added white flowers.

Overall, I like the way this piece turned out. I think the composition is balanced, and there is good detail. I like the color contrast. My biggest problem with it is just that there is still a lot fo grey in the background, and I would have like to fill this space or have more color. As a whole, I think there is quality in the piece, but it also feels a bit plain.