My Feathered Friend
Springtime is in full swing in Georgia. We are enjoying our lengthening days, increasingly, warm, and abundant sunshine, blooming fauna and most especially the activity of our birds and small wildlife clearly enjoying our warmer temperatures too. Recent sunny days have brought sightings of robins, morning doves and most especially cardinals pairing up and scouting out nesting sites to raise this spring’s families.
Birch watching has become a regular activity for my family because the archway of our covered front porch inevitably doubles as a favorite locale for family rearing for our feathered neighbors. Our porch’s interior offers up several coveted, and cozy spaces, little bird town homes, that each year are scouted out and settled. We offer prime real estate – for the birds!
We observe this year’s home shoppers fly in to inspect our porch and our adjacent front garden. Scouting bird pairs hop in and out of nest size cubby spaces. We enjoy watching them twitter and chirp excitedly about the abundant amenities that come with their new home! Nice dry porch, check! Pretty scenic flower garden, check! Water supply furnished by adjacent garden hose, check! What more can a nesting pair of lovebirds need?
Truly, all this excitement and commotion right outside our front door has become an annual tradition. A tradition, so special that it gave rise to the idea to paint a bird portrait, entitled Spring’s Cardinal.
This feathered friend is painted using a palette of both warm and cool hues, including alizarin crimson, cadmium red light, cadmium yellow light, cadmium yellow medium, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue and burnt umber to work up our basic portrait. An expanded palette that includes viridian and cerulean blue, mixed with titanium zinc white helps to build a layered background and complete the surrounding sky and scenery.
If you love bird watching and getting close to our feathered neighbors, then you may wish to visit with Spring’s Cardinal in my online art gallery. This inspired cardinal portrait is now available as hand signed print on paper, as well as fine art print on canvas.
Thank you for visiting with me in my Artist’s Journal, On The Easel. I love sharing the inspiration for my oil painting entitled, Spring’s Cardinal, with you! Article image, detail from Spring’s Cardinal, 14 inches x 14 inches, oil on canvas.
Be well, Karen LaFontaine
Message Karen at her art studio at: karen@karenlafontainefineart.com
Enjoy more enchanting friends by visiting my online gallery:
