". . . a brush with nature"

I am writing today about the development of my acrylic painting, “Prickly Perch,” from the original inception to completed painting.

I had the idea of combining a common bird with some of the beautiful cacti found in the Southwest in a painting. After going through many, many reference photos I eventually found a beautiful one of a prickly pear cactus. The light was striking and the blooms were stunning. Although the original photo was horizontal, I cropped out the part I wanted to focus on into the vertical format that I had in mind. Now all I needed was the bird.

After a bit more searching, I settled on another photo I had in my files of a sparrow perched on another cactus. Using that image I decided where to place the bird in my painting and “perched” him there.

Next I started blocking in the colors of the cactus. Initially I did an underpainting of the complimentary color of green (red) under all the cactus parts, leaving the umber toned panel showing beneath the bird and blooms. When painting with acrylics I apply multiple layers and washes to ultimately achieve the effect I desire.  It is also important to note that I never use colors straight out of the tube, but prefer to mix my colors on the palette or canvas/panel as I paint. Even though it was still early in the process I started to block in some of the blooms and certain areas of detail at this point, as well.

More layers are added, as well as the details of spines and beginning areas of light on cactus pads and blooms. Dry brush technique is effective here for the surface look and texture of the cactus pads. I also start to underpaint my sparrow now.

I continued to add details throughout the painting at this point, bringing it along together. I finished the bird using many overlapping layers to achieve the softness of feathers and kept working to push the feeling of light hitting certain areas of the cactus and not others. Something still bothered me, though, so I walked away and let the painting sit overnight.

Coming back to my studio the next day I was immediately struck by the fact that there was not enough definition between the pad where the bird is perched and the one adjacent to it (middle bottom.) I decided to add subtle highlights along that front edge coming forward to better define that particular part of the cactus. I think it was just what the painting needed to make it a stronger piece.

At the TOP of this blog you see the completed painting, “Prickly Perch” – 18”h x 14”w