Work in progress

I usually work on a painting when I participate in an art fair, to give visitors to our booth an idea of how an artist develops a painting, hoping to give some inspiration to young people who have an interest in art.  When we did the Edwardsville Art Fair this year, my wife suggested doing a painting of Cardinals.  They are a popular subject, and it had been quite awhile since I had painted them, it would be interesting to see if I could improve on previous concepts.  The first step was to find an interesting background, for which I settled on a photo of spring growth that had a variety of shapes and colors.  In this setting I sketched a pair of Cardinals that I photographed on our feeders last winter.  In my sketch I placed the male front and center, but as I worked on the painting I pushed him back, with tail behind the branch supporting the female; this better integrates him into the painting.  The riotous jumble of leaves and the muted colors of the female draw the viewer's eyes to the male while at the same time the greens, browns, and oranges complement his brilliant red plumage.  You can see the finished painting on the Songbirds page of this web site.