Duck Stamp

For this project, my class and I were required to submit a piece to the national duck stamp competition. For this piece, I decided to draw a female mallard duck and her babies. I decided to do this type of duck, even though it is one of the most popular and well-known species because these are the ducks that I see everywhere in Maine and I thought it would be interesting to bring that connection into my piece. I also have a very good understanding of what this species looks like, so I only very very loosely used reference photos–only using them for minor details. To create the ducks, I only used graphite, however I am planning on adding colored pencil later as well.

My project evolved in the sense that at first, I was only going to do the one female momma mallard duck, but after I was finished drawing her, I realized how empty and uninteresting my piece looked. Because of this, I added a baby duck as well as some plants for reference, so that the ducks dont look like their swimming in space. However, if i were to continue working on this piece (which I will likely do before its due), I would add colored pencil to add more depth and color to the piece.