"Cascading Moment," Daily Painting #13 (Number 12 will be shared soon.)

"Cascading Moment," Available (Click Here) 

5" by 7" Oil on Panel

The Peacock

I've always been reticent to paint a peacock. I'm in love with their cool range of brilliant colors. Their proud walk has it's comical self aggrandizing qualities. Their slightly nasal calls both feel exotic and a bit like a weird clearing of a very stuffy nasal passage (Felix Unger comes to mind.). I think it is because they are just beautiful and that seems too straightforward, not thoughtful enough.

At the same time I have no problem trying to get the most glorious colorful photos of a displaying peacock every time I meet up with one. On one of my recent trips to the San Diego Zoo I heard that distinctive cry and saw a crowd gathered and rushed ahead of my patient husband to catch the perfect photo. I had sadly arrived too late for the full display, but I realized in that moment that this inbetween moment before he quietly went back to banal pecking or slowly dragged away his heavy plumage was  something not as straightforward. This was a moment that made sense for me to paint. As he turned away from the crowd his plumage half down became a swirl around him and I caught an image to paint from.

Process

I wasn't quite sure how to approach painting this bird without the different parts of his body seeming disconnected. My strategy was to focus on the soft edges that were created by the fine ends of the display feathers and the more downy feathers on the underside of the display. I enjoyed capturing how ordinary a peacock's body looks shaded by their bold plumage.

Next

I'm happy I finally painted a grand peacock. I'm back to painting daily again. Weeee...the adventure resumes.