Cardinal on the old fence.

"Cardinal on the old fence" by Hilary J. England
Oil on canvas, 8" x 11"

My obsession with cardinals continues today.  I painted this and it was raining, but what drama is there in painting a cardinal in the rain?  Snow is much more suiting, so I improvised.  That's what's wonderful about painting--you make your own decisions, and you create whatever strikes your fancy. I'm not a firm believer in always painting what you see.  There is no fun in that at all.

So, again, I was working with a limited palette here of Van Dyke brown, Cad red deep, Ultramarine, Indian yellow, Titanium white, and Burnt Umber.  I was able to catch this pretty quickly, and substitute the driving rain (and change it to snow) and the washy white background that was melting fast, and make it into a snow scene.  The bird was very cooperative.  He basically just sat there, by himself, looking pretty satisfied.  Well, I guess he had eaten a lot of seeds and was content.

~Enjoy!