Speaking of Art Blog

Eastern Screech Owl, pastel, 9x12"

This is my latest pastel painting, of a rescue owl that was being skillfully handled in a public presentation that I attended last year, given by Nicole Harmon, the director of Humane Indiana Wildlife, a wild animal rescue center.  The owl was very calm and I was able to get some great pics of it.  Some Eastern Screech Owls, including this one found in the wild in northern Indiana with a major eye injury to its eye not seen here, are the brown morph, which means they have variations on the theme of brown in their mottled, multi-colored feathers.  They are a small owl, relatively speaking, so there was an audible “awe” coming from all of us audience members as Nicole held this owl up for us to see and learn about.

But I’m not a fan of the color brown, so I held onto my reference photo for over a year before I decided to attempt this painting.  I guess my main objection to using a lot of that color is that brown can look so drab, like dry dirt.  Bleh.  In contrast, I like bright colors, pure visual notes, not super mixed up or grayed down combinations of color.  But I had a thought as I studied the reference photo of this owl last month, and I was intrigued to try an interesting new plan, an idea stemming from a seemingly insignificant event during our vacation my husband and I took earlier this fall.

In October, we drove to and visited 3 outstanding parks at the height of fall color season.  We started at Brown County State Park (IN), then Great Smoky Mts National Park (TN), and finally Hocking Hills State Park (OH).  It was at Hocking Hills that I experienced my encounter that influenced my choice to attempt creating this brown feathered wonder.  On our last day in the park, we chose to hike on the Rock House trail.  In the trail parking lot, we encountered 2 ways to walk to the trailhead, both within about 100 yards of each other.  One way, the way my husband chose, was just a straightforward paved path that led directly to the trailhead.  The other way, the one I chose, had an old stone stairway that deposited me at the far end of a grassy area that I then walked across.  After a breezy previous day, the steps were now covered with tons of gorgeous, newly fallen, bright fall-colored maple leaves.  The scene took my breath away.  I told my husband that I would be a few minutes behind him because I was definitely going to stop and take some pics.  I took the scenic route to get to the trailhead and I’m so glad I did.  The saturated colors and varying shapes and mixed textures all around me as I climbed the stairs were energizing to my senses.  I got lots of cool pics.

 So, what does that have to do with this brown owl?  Well, I thought that perhaps I was not letting brown have its due because I hadn’t explored all the nuanced variations of the color.  So, I looked closely at my reference photo and I tried to picture just how far I could push the shades of brown in different feather groups on its body, punching their saturation and hue, and still be able to call them all brown.  I pulled out some pastel sticks and pencils from my huge stash and I was delighted to find some rich brown color notes that would work nicely together.  Their hues ranged from light valued peach-brown to bright orange-brown to a deep rusty red-brown and even a golden yellow-brown, all hints of fall leaf colors.  OK, maybe I could travel the scenic route exploring all the shades of brown after all.  It would take me longer to get to my destination, but like my stone steps mini adventure, maybe the result would be worth the extra time.

As I worked on the owl’s feathers, I kept reminding myself to push the colors in key spots to really make them sing.  Yes of course, I still needed to temper some of those highly saturated sections with some more grayed down shades next to them.  But whenever I felt like the feathers needed some pizazz, I reached for richer browns, the ones that reminded me of those leaves on the stone steps.  And it worked.  I took the scenic route with brown, meeting all its many and varied relatives, and I’m so glad I did.  The owl looks alive and vibrant and definitely not drab like dry dirt.  I counted 15 shades of brown that I used by the time I finished.

Who knows, maybe I’ll be inspired to tackle a creation that is mostly gray next time.  How many shades will I use?  I don’t know, maybe 50 (groan).  Whatever projects I choose, I’m going to take the scenic route to get there.