Accidental Truths

The Egret Continues…

SGraves — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:59:00 +0000

A beak, an eye, and a little color

Today is a bright sunny day so I’m not sure how much of the blue I’ve added to the neck of my egret you can see. That’s the trouble with photographing a white subject in bright sun light, it tends to flatten out because the contrast goes away.

I’ve filled in the beak and the eye so he’s got some life to him for sure. Now I’ve got to give him a couple legs to stand on. The frilly feathers off his tail were once again masked out so that they remain white against the blue shadow of his left side. I want the white back and feathers to sparkle against the depth of the blue water beneath him. I’ll add more blue to his side and neck for more contrast and definition. He’ll become a three dimensional bird rather than the flat object he is right now.

Still very much a work in progress. All those little white dots sprinkled throughout the water are reflections of sunlight. They’ll get a touch of color here and there to give them definition as well. Funny how much color they have when you look at them up close. Your eye registers white, but there’s a whole lot more going on.

A Fisher

SGraves — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:05:01 +0000

Background nearly finished, maybe a tweak here or there left

I’ve had my eye on this guy for a couple years to find the right moment to make him into a painting. I love Great White Egrets for their elegance and dazzle. A boy do they dazzle in full breeding plumage like he’s wearing.

The painting is toward the middle of completion. I seem to get so involved in laying in the background that I forget to take pictures as I go. But once the water is on you have to go at it fairly fast and direct. I’d need someone standing over my shoulder clicking away to get pictures of the thing in progress.

If the egret looks a little ghostly and legless that’s because I’ve covered him in masking fluid to protect his white while I painting the background. The legs I’ll re-draw once I’m satisfied with the water around him. I’m not that concerned right now that they’ve gone missing under the paint.

Once completed, I intend to include this as my new painting for my submission to the invitational for Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. The contrast and richness should make an impression.

Stay tuned for the next update.

Unexpected Invitation

SGraves — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:52:31 +0000

An interesting letter greeted me yesterday in my mailbox. The folks from Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital just keeping it comin’ it seems. A big envelope showed up yesterday from them, giving me hope that they’d sent my check for the painting I sold from the Arts Ability 2009 exhibition. Wasn’t that, though something just about as good. They’ve invited me to submit artwork for the 2010 Arts Ability show as the featured piece for show promotion. I must have touched a nerve with them since they kept my other painting for continued exhibit in their new gallery on campus and now have chosen me as one of the candidates for consideration of this honor. I can submit up to 6 paintings. Gotta start some new work to have at least one hot off the palate for them.

I’m realizing, too, in looking back at my archives that I’ve been at this blog for a year now. Wow, a lot has happened since then - certainly a lot of paintings and new energy in doing this. Thanks to all of you who check in to see my work and what I’m up to. You’re a valued part of my process.

Sparrows Complete

SGraves — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:35:35 +0000

Out On A Limb

The weather is playing tricks with us here in Paducah, warming to the 50’s one day and then dipping into the 30’s the next. We had a warm spell over the weekend and so I let the feeder stand empty, knowing that the birds would have enough seeds in the dry grasses and barren flower beds to sustain them. But the past couple days have turned bitter again and so I had Dave fill up the feeder again. The sparrows crowd around around in mad confrontation, and I noticed that the male cardinal has finally learned to muscle his way in with them and stand in cool contrast on the edge of the feeder getting a seed or three while his less refined cousins squabble to get their share. I even had a purple finch (at least I’m calling it that since they’re so close to House Finches) and his mate this morning visit for a while.

With all this activity outside to inspire me, I took one last look at my painting, which had been resting on my drafting table for several day, and added a bit of burnt sienna and french ultramarine in a few places on the three sparrows with their backs to us. They needed a little more definition and color I decided.

So here they are finished, four sparrows on a sycamore limb, waiting out the cold and their turn at the feeder.

Snow forecast for tomorrow. I’ll have to restock their supply.

“Out On A Limb”

10.5″ X 14″

Watercolor on paper

$200

Contact me for purchase

The Sparrows Continue

SGraves — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:21:22 +0000

Sparrows Developing

The little fluffy sparrows are filling out on their limb. I’ve created a composite composition from a couple of the photos I took when they were all feeding during the cold snap from a week or so ago. The two at opposite ends create a nice pair of bookends of action for the two still sparrows in the center. There’s less detail in those two, creating small ovals of quiet that want to fade into the grays and browns of the bare tree and the solitude of winter. The detail in their fellow sparrows creates a nice counter weight.

I’ll post the final outcome tomorrow of this winter scene in miniature. In the final stretch I’ll do the tree branches and add a little more color and details to the birds to bring the composition together.