Speaking of Art Blog

I recently gave a 2-day weekend pastel workshop at the Chesterton Art Center in Chesterton IN.  The theme was feathers and fur.  It was great fun.  I filled the brains of my students with tons of info about how to render feathers and fur, and I also spent time explaining how those two features are different from each other.  If you want to learn more about their differences, you can follow this link to my blog post about it: https://www.maryannpals.com/blog/123567/feathers-or-fur-at-some-point-you-must-choose-reposted-from-5-3-17

Swainson's Thrush, pastel, 12x9"

Under the Sunflowers, pastel, 12x9"

These two paintings were my demos during the workshop.  Both the bird and the bunny are a rather drab brown, so I made sure to include whimsical colors surrounding them.  Animals and birds are fun to observe in the wild, and most of them remind me of little children.  So why not add some whimsy to their portrait?  With the Swainson’s Thrush I pushed the pinks, and with the bunny I added extra magenta.  I really like how those colors add a sense of almost playfulness to each artwork.

The other element I discussed with my students was the camouflage going on with the bunny.  I pointed out to them that I didn’t even notice the bunny at first, when I glanced at the pretty sunflowers outside a local art gallery’s front window.  Amazing!  The bunny blended in beautifully with its surroundings.  So when I decided to paint this scene, I did NOT make the bunny stand out more.  I wanted to portray it in its natural surroundings, and its camouflage is part of that.

Most times artists try to have their center of interest contain their lightest light juxtaposed next to their darkest dark shape.  But in this scene with the bunny as the center of interest, I set that principle aside.  It simply would not have looked natural.  What I did to balance with that rule breaker was to confine all the juicy details to only the bunny and foreground grasses.  Then I purposely lessened the details in the sunflowers, stems, leaves, and large background color areas.  Our eyes are drawn to details almost as much as to sharp light/dark contrast.  So I think I was able to achieve exactly what I experienced when I discovered the bunny outdoors.  First the viewer is drawn to the bright yellow sunflowers, and then their eyes drop down to all those lovely details in the brown bunny below, and that’s where I want my viewer to linger.

Whimsy and camouflage, two elements that can make a wild creature’s portrait very intriguing.  I enjoy depicting birds and animals on a flat surface as I try to make them seem almost 3-D in all their wild wonder.