Duck Stamp

Artist statement

While making this piece of work I learn about a mallard's natural habitat. I learn that they love bodies of water such as ponds, shallow wetlands, lakes. They like to migrate to the north in the summer and to the south in the summer. Mallards love to eat leaves, stems, grasses, aquatic plants, insects, and sometimes small crustaceans. They also molt in the fall to prepare for winter then again in the spring for summer. The females also have blue feather that is very vibrant and bright while males have bright green heads. The juveniles are also usually much smaller, narrow, and brown while adults are larger and greyer.

For materials, I used colored pencils and graphite. I chose these materials because I'm very familiar with them and showing details with these is easier for me. I used mostly colors that revolves around greens, browns, and greys. This was aimed to show the natural and flowing ways of the duck in nature. I also layered many different colors to created more effects and other elements such as the grass in the background and the log in the foreground. I used burnishing for the blue spot of the female mallard to create that vibrant area.

The first thing I did to create this piece was make a light sketch of the position ducks with graphite. Along with this step, I created the log position and horizon line for the grass. I went back in with light greys and browns and created more details on the duck and this eventually formed the body, feathers, head, and more. The log was created by overlaying colors of grey, black and light browns. I started with the lighted colors then made my way to darker colors. When I was creating the shadow I started with just a circular area of light greys then added colors of the duck on top to look like the duck was actually standing there. For the grass, I used lots of green and brown. I made each piece of grass individually by a stroke at a time. The water was created by light shading of a green and very very light blue. I wanted my duck to be the main feature in my art so I tried to create it large than any other element in the scenery but also make it look natural. I'm very happy with the outcome but next time I would like to have multiple ducks such as a mother with its little ducklings beside it.