May 21, 2011

Help!! Swans are taking over my life!!

FALL REFLECTIONS 9 x 13
Yes, I have been on a big swan kick, painting and drawing them in all shapes and sizes. I couldn't help myself. This winter we had such wonderful viewing opportunities so of course I took a ton of pictures and now I want to use them. I think I am done for a while; here are a few I wanted to share with you. The first one is a pair of trumpeter swans that were settled in the water in the marsh area at the mouth of the Courtenay River on Vancouver Island. I juiced up the colors a bit and turned it into more of a fall scene. There were ducks, geese and swans everywhere but this pair were just settled quietly in their own little world. For me it was everything: love, caring, rest after a long migration and even a sense of safety, if that is even possible in the animal world.
MUTE SWAN 8 x 6
This second picture is of a mute swan. They're slightly smaller than the trumpeter swans and also gather here along the west coast in the winter. She, well it just has to be a she for me, was gathered with a group of swans, ducks and geese looking for handouts from the people walking along a lagoon near Victoria. I loved the arch of her neck and the sparkle of the sun on her head and beak. I wanted to try drawing her in graphite without a background and still create that sense of white. (I know, I need to make easier challenges for myself.) It was a lot of fiddling with values because of course I complicated it a bit with the color but I think she worked.

10 comments:

Brenda Hill CDM said...

Both lovely, Wendy

Studio at the Farm said...

Lovely, wendy. I like the juiced up colors.

Julia Ruffles | wildlife artist said...

what a joy! how calm and serene, beautiful choice of colours on you background, really complementary to the angelic swans :) Jules

Unknown said...

Love them both Wendy. brilliant pieces Wendy.
Keep them coming they are so elegant and beautifully painted.

Wendy Mould AFCA said...

Thanks ladies, I am pleased that you enjoyed the pictures. They are a very elegant bird and I was really trying to capture that.

Sandy Byers said...

Beautiful! I love (love) the swans, too, and you have done such a wonderful, graceful, painting of them.

Anonymous said...

It seems that blogspot is still having some problems and the only way I can respond to my comments is by using Anonymous.
Thanks Sandy, in total I completed 5 different swan pictures and I enjoyed doing every single one of them.

Gillian said...

Wendy the swans are beautiful, the white on white worked really well.

Carol Blackburn said...

Stunning!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Gillian and Carol. We just got back from a little holiday weekend and I stopped to paint on a little bay. Guess what came swimming into the bay? Two swans!!