This is a pattern painting. Sure, it’s a realistic portrait of a flock of dunlins. But the repetitive orange patterns against the cerulean blue water, lost edges where the water meets the bird’s white flanks, with still more reflected patterns below makes a chaotic abstract.
When I started, I had no idea how demanding the detail would be, I just dove in. Once I had the birds composed, and a few basic tones laid in, I abandoned my favorite expressive brushes for a little zero white sable, and dug in. Two weeks and two brushes later, I decided to stop.
These are all dunlins but one. Can you pick out and name the guest in this breakfast flock? All the dunlins are in their very best breeding colors. Ironically, their name comes from a description of their non-breeding color: dunlin for a gray-brown plus “ling” for small—LBJs or little brown jobs.
This painting is for sale now here.
Comments