Painting 12 - Meadowlark

I got to a point with this painting and wasn't sure exactly how to proceed. So slap on a shadow and call it finished! The lighting on this was tricky - there was a strong shadow across the back of the bird, and strong light in front, but it also had a lot of dark and light markings all over, so it was tricky getting it to "read" correctly. Also because of the lighting, the eye was pretty much just a black circle in my reference photo. In hindsight, I think this is the type of situation where an artist needs to use a little creative license and not paint literally. Another lesson learned!

Beginnings of Painting 12

I've begun to lay in the basic shading and coloring and a little bit of pattern on a western meadowlark painting based on a bird that I saw this past weekend. Western meadowlarks are one of my all time favorite birds. They have the most wonderful call that I once heard someone describe as "liquid sunrise" and that description has stuck with me. Paul and I used to camp regularly at Badlands National Park in South Dakota and the meadowlarks would wake me every morning with their beautiful song. The sun would rise over the prairie, casting its fresh golden light over everything and the wildflowers and grasses would blow gently in the breeze. I have wonderful memories of that place.

I'm not exactly sure where this painting is going. I didn't plan a real route for this one. It may end up to be more of a study than a full painting type, or who knows what will happen. We'll just have to see where this takes me.