Duck Stamp

Green-Winged Teal

acrylic paint, colored pencil

9x12

Artist Statement

The piece was made with the intention of submitting it to the Junior Duck Stamp competition, which aims to spread awareness about the endangerment of docks and their habitats. The contest accepts realistic 2D duck designs that are not digitally edited. The winning duck is turned into a stamp, hence the name “duck stamp”. I chose to draw a Green-Winged Teal for my duck stamp, as I found the pop of iridescent color in their feathers to be intriguing and beautiful.

For this painting/drawing I started by sketching in pencil, then moving onto colored pencil to fill in the duck. I used iridescent watercolors over colored pencils to add a shimmer to the green feathers. I then used acrylic paint to make the water. The artwork is done on a 9x12 piece of drawing paper.

Seeing as this is a realism competition, I tried my best to incorporate the texture of the duck’s feathers to match the real-life version. I was drawn to the feathers of the Green-Winged Teal to begin with, so I made sure to use bright colors in order to emphasize the green feathers. I started by making thumbnails with different species of ducks in different positions before settling on the Green-Winged Teal, kind of a last minute choice actually. My next steps would be to try and blend the strokes in the water and add a reflection, as well as adding more shading to the duck to make it fit in with the water better.