I haven’t done a straight “bird portrait” in a while. Instead, I’ve been painting entire birds—each with a portion of its environment serving as part of the subject. I used to paint portraits regularly, but I think they work best on a larger scale, and I’ve opted for smaller images lately. For a watercolor artist, large is relative. A big oil painting is measured in feet. Watercolor on the other hand, is limited by paper size and practicality. Large paintings for me are typically in the 18 x 24-inch range. Not huge, but big enough that they make a different impression on the viewer than life-size or smaller.
Speaking of large, eyes are always fun to paint and this night heron had an enormous and beautiful eye!
Dawn Petrill
It was really fascinating to watch you paint and hear your commentary. I especially liked your comments about the structure of the eye and what you are thinking about as you render it. When you said you were unhappy with the background I didn’t agree with you but once you put a darker glaze on it I understood. Well done, Matt. What a beautiful painting!
Matt
Thanks, Dawn! I think the uniformity of the original background pattern left it flatter than I wanted. Once it had the darker glaze it created enough of a gradient that it had a bit more depth.