Passing a twig...


Work in Progress…

“Lark Sparrow (Temporary Title),” Oil on ½” prepared maple panel, 8 x 16.



I finished blocking in the first layer of color on this one late last week! I am happy with where everything is at on this painting so far but will be adding some more visual texture using different tones in the background sky. I was excited to see the same colors used for the patch of reddish brown on the Sparrows cheek and the highlighted rust on the barbed wire. That’s the type of thing that gets me excited about a painting.

The reference for this came from my visit to the Woolaroc Museum in Oklahoma which has a barbed wire display. Now that I find myself painting it I wish that I had paid more attention to the different kinds of barbed wire along with their history.

A Lark Sparrow is a large sparrow, it has a long tail with white corners, it’s under parts are whitish with a large dark spot in the center of the breast. Other than the striking face pattern there isn’t much else that I found of interest besides the usual “Bird Geek” stuff, that I love but you may not, was that they have a unique behavior during courtship. The Lark Sparrow passes a twig from male to female during copulation. I guess that would qualify as “Bird Geek” stuff! Simply fascinating!


Comments

  1. Steven S. WalkerNovember 1, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    I love where this is headed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. tess stiebenNovember 1, 2011 at 11:55 PM

    Interesting courtship behaviour, its great to learn new bird geek stuff, and on that note are you going to place a twig in his beak?
    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert Louis CaldwellNovember 5, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    Thanks Steven, I hope your opening went well last night!

    Tess, If I placed a twig in its beak I would need to add another Sparrow as well as re-positioning the birds. Would that cross the line into bird exhibitionism?

    ReplyDelete

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