Will a Tulip Leaf hold a Chickadee???

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Not your usual question,

But very important 

to me!!!

Tulips have been on my mind.

I am sure it is because tulips and chickadees are everywhere.  Both my husband and I have been picking up bunches of tulips whenever we go out!!  They are just so bright and colourful.  At the same time the chickadees have returned to our feeder and greet us every morning.  It  seems like a perfect partnership for a Spring picture!

A few of my chickadee pictures

 Planning is a big part of any picture. Sometimes it seems to take forever and all I want to do is "get at it!!"  This picture had been percolating in my mind for days, waking me up at night as I worked out how it could look.  But I always came back to the same question, 'would the leaf hold him"?  Could it really happen?  Would the chickadee sit there?  (Those little guys don't seem to sit anywhere very long. )  

So first I had to confirm a tulip leaf would hold a chickadee. 

After several experiments, without a chickadee (I used a small weight ) I determined that it could.  The leaf had to be bent and the chickadee had to be near the arch of the bend.  Fortunately the good weather had my bulbs sprouting.  This meant I could watch the birds flutter about and see if they would perch near the leaves.  They did!!

Now I needed tulip pictures with bent leaves.  Back to my picture files.

Tulips - Draft 1 - with cropping

Tulips - Draft 2 

I found a couple that could work.  Draft 1 had some lovely spots where a chickadee could sit but the stems would have to be shortened.   Draft 2 was my choice as I liked the lighting on the flowers and the leaves seemed more like a garden arrangement.  It too would need some adjustments but the main idea was there.

Finding my chickadee proved a little harder.  I searched through my files looking for a picture.  I love the little chickadees and see them all the time but some how I didn't seem to have many pictures.  None seemed to have that interesting stance to go with my idea.  I finally chose the little guy on the lower right from the collage above but. . .

He was facing the wrong way!  

I tried reversing him, the lighting seemed to work and I was ready. 

Well nearly!

My little friend after he was flipped!!

Now it was time to put him into place. I plopped him on the leaf and made my final adjustments: move a flower here; put a leaf there.  Things looked good and I knew I was ready. 

Chickadee is ready and markup is done. 

No, I haven't finished the picture, yet!  

After planning comes drawing and painting. Still lots of work!   It is well underway though and should be ready for next week's post!!

Tune in next week to see "Spring Friendships" completed!! 

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Have a great day,

Wendy 

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