Duck Stamp

The subject of my creation is a Trumpeter Swan in a pond. I made this work by sketching it out with a 2H pencil and then painting it over in acrylic paint. I looked at a picture reference so it was easy to tell where the shaded areas were placed. I chose to create this specific artwork because I’ve always thought swans were very majestic looking and why not paint it. Specific elements and principles I used in the price of artwork was value with the shadows and highlights, and I also used contrast with the darks of the water and the lights of the feathers.

Some composition rules and techniques I used were, formal balance by placing the Sean in the center of the artwork and framing by kind of outlining the swan with the water. At first I was going to do two swans flying out of the water, and then I was going to do a baby swan and six eggs, then I was going to paint a mommy swan and a baby swan and finally I changed my idea to just one swan floating in a pond. I also was going to use water color at first, and then I switched my medium to acrylic paint because the water color paper can be sometimes hard to use if you add too much water.

The meaning behind this artwork is to go with the flow and let the water take you wherever you may end up. This project relates to my life because I used to love the movie Barbie of Swan Lake, and so this is sort of inspired by that because that started my interest in swans. If I could change anything in my artwork it would probably be to make some of the shadows lighter, and the neck is a little disproportionate, so I would change that as well. Also the water might be a little unrealistic because this the first time I’ve really tried to make water look super realistic up close, and I had to watch a couple of videos to get the right idea.