Duck Stamp

In this piece I was trying to further my ability to capture life while staying loose and relaxed. The duck in the above image does not look photorealistic, but I think that my interpretation of a mallard drake captures the attitude of these birds. Mallards are the quintessential duck to me, as they seem to be able to live anywhere, from as natural a setting as remote islands on Penobscot Bay to the Public Garden in Boston. To me, these ducks are always smirking, smirking at the fact that humans haven't been able to keep them out. They are almost like the duck equivalent of a racoon. Mallards go everywhere.

To make this piece I used Prismacolor colored pencils, watercolors, and watercolor paper.

This piece did not evolve a whole lot. I began with photo references and from those created a composition using pieces from each photo. As a result of this, changing the composition would have required me to search for and locate another whole set of reference images to base the new composition on. However, I was originally going to include a male, female and mallard ducklings, but as a result of poor planning I did not allot enough time to accomplish that. I chose to use watercolor paper because I like the canvas like feeling of it, and I like how it allows a fuzzy edge. The trees in the background of A Duck fade into the sky in a manner I am quite pleased with. As for colored pencils, they are a medium that I am most familiar with, and the watercolor wash allowed me to not have to burnish the colored pencils as firmly into the watercolor paper.