TM8476 George Is Back! 30×30 oil on panel

It’s early May and I’m pleased to announce that George, my mallard pal, is back! With the new duckweed coming in, and not too much competition, he seems quite content. I couldn’t resist painting him in his favorite haunt. Actually, it was a fun painting from beginning to end, but best of all was saying hi to George, and saluting him with a (small) portrait.  Maybe later in the season, when he’s used to me again, he’ll let me get closer and I can do a larger painting of him. Details below. Enjoy!

TM8476 George Is Back! – detail showing George enjoying the new duckweed

TM8476 George Is Back! – detail from right of center showing waterline, skunk cabbage, and thicket, achieved through use of pressed textures, scraping, blotting, direct painting, and glazing

TM8476 George Is Back! – detail from lower middle left showing layered textures of spatter and blotting

TM8476 George Is Back! – detail from left foreground with floating leaves and emerging grasses, reflections

Technical painting notes: I started with a rolled dark green and violet-infused burnt umber, into which I scraped away branches, spritzed with solvent and blotted, pushed the paint around with plastic (dipped in oil and solvent), then repeated the process the next day to get a richer textural background. The rest was mostly a matter of direct painting with semi-transparent pigments and lots of glazing, plus a little bit of pressed texture into the wet glaze in the thicket.