On Birds.

As I am painting Plate III of Little Snow White, one layer at a time, I have some progress notes and thoughts on this courtyard scene. Previously, I showed the sketch. The full painting is now underway, and while not ready to reveal the whole thing, here are a few sections in the making.

I am also showing a painting from my Masters thesis, one of 14 Aesop's fables I illustrated. The Crow and the Birds is one of my favorites. Both the study and the finished painting turned out to be indispensable when I found myself painting pigeons again.

sketch and final image for Master’s thesis — one of 14 Aesop’s fables illustrated

Initially, I wanted to keep the doves all white, symbolic of Snow White's innocence. But in a painting this small, 4 x 6, with castle walls that are light themselves, they kept disappearing. Some placed against darker sections showed up alright, but many got lost against the stone floor. So I let them become both doves and pigeons, bringing in some more color. It solved the contrast problem and added life to the painting. Painting birds is challenging. Every feather has to look like it actually works, like it belongs to something that can fly.

I took a creature design course that required deconstructing each animal from bones to muscle before we could invent anything. That training stuck with me. With these tiny pigeons I kept wanting to render every detail, and finally gave myself permission to suggest their form rather than be too hung up on anatomical accuracy at this scale. Hopefully your eyes will fill in the rest. Let me know what you think when the final version comes out August 1st!