I’m still trying to post all the art that’s been accumulating. May is always a busy month for birding, and this was no exception. On top of that I’ve been swamped with illustration/animation work.
This painting is not in chronological order. Before this one I completed a complex watercolor of Black-capped Chickadees, and it’s taking a long time to edit those videos. After that long, difficult piece, I was in the mood for something I could wrap up quickly. Fortunately, a sketch of a Crested Coua from the Toledo Zoo was ready to go!
The Crested Coua, like all couas, can only be found in the savannas and brushlands of Madagascar. There are only nine species in the genus. They reside in the family of cuckoos, but unlike some of the cuckoos, couas build their own nests. Many cookoos are nest parasites and lay their eggs in the nest of a host who then broods, hatches and raises the parasite’s young. The Crested Coua eats fruits, nuts, insects, seeds and the occasional small animal.
Having never been to Madagascar, my experience with these beautiful birds has been confined to seeing them in zoos. They are fairly big birds and are spectacularly beautiful. My daughter described them as a “Giant Glam Titmouse.” That pretty much hits the nail on the head. The crest and overall coloration are very similar, with the addition of some spectacular “eye shadow” on the bare flesh around its eyes.
When reviewing my site and social media analytics to see which paintings seem to attract the most interest, I was a little surprised to see that the simpler paintings are more popular. Generally speaking, the most highly designed, larger paintings that take forever to finish seem to get the least hits, and a quick, simple painting of a bird with a blurry background and little design work gets more attention. This would make a sane person reluctant to spend over a hundred hours on a complex painting, rather than ten or so hours on a simple one, but I’m not that guy. I consider the complex, highly designed ones to be more “art” and the simple ones to be more “illustration,” not that there isn’t a ton of crossover between the two. Since I’m primarily painting for my own entertainment, I’ll continue to mix it up and do whatever captures my interest. A sure way to please no one is to try to please everyone.
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