^ Won Best in Show for the Maine Junior Duck stamp!

Made with alcohol based markers and ink on bristol paper.

For this assignment, we have had to choose between certain species of birds that the junior duck stamp competition. I choose to do my painting of a Red-Breast Merganser, which was one of the many options to pick from. The painting is made of acrylic paint and depicts two Red-Breast Merganser, one man, and one female. The female is swimming in the water, and the male is standing on the ground.

I spent a lot of time in the background trying to blend the watercolors and then make the ground look somewhat natural. I had trouble making the ground look like it was in front of the water without it looking cropped or forced. I spent more time on the female bird because she was a lighter color, so there was more visible texture within her feathers. The male was more difficult to create because he has more of a dark contrast that would quickly turn light in a rough way.

I choose to do the Red-Breast Merganser because it was different with its feathery head but still an average bird with its body and colors. I choose this layout because it showed both genders of the species and occupied a majority of the space, leaving no room for white space.

Refernces:

http://what-when-how.com/birds/red-breasted-merganser-birds/

http://onejackdawbirding.blogspot.com/2010/12/sawbills-on-world-bird-wednesday.html