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The Award-Winner's Painter

Monday, April 12, 2010

As distinguished from "The Award-Winning Painter," a post title you will not see on this blog... I have a little niche as an ornithological award painter. I get commissions to paint presents for people who are getting awards in the ornithological field. Awards for lifetime achievement, extraordinary contributions; conservation awards. It’s a really nice niche, because I get to paint pictures for very special people, those who've been singled out by their peers as extraordinary. I also enjoy it because it’s all hush-hush and everybody’s excited to see what I come up with.

One such award was given just this past weekend by Bluebirds Across Nebraska, an amazing bluebird conservation organization, to Nebraska bluebirder Sandy Seibert, who initiated a program and came up with supporting materials for bluebirders to take a kid along on their routes as they check their bluebird houses. What a great idea. You never know what little switch might get thrown in a child’s mind, what spark kindled and lit. Here's the pledge for participants:

I pledge to take a child (son, daughter, grandchild, niece, nephew, neighbor’s or friend’s child, etc.) along with me to monitor my bluebird trail as often as possible during the nesting season. I promise to explain to this child the importance and value of monitoring a bluebird trail. I will plant a seed of love for bluebirds and nature in this child’s mind and nurture that seed in the hopes that this child will someday follow in my footsteps.

Among the supporting materials given to the child in the TAK-Along program is my husband's Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.

Obviously, I'm down with that. So I wanted to give Sandy, a warm, wonderful woman whom I happen to know, a painting that would highlight what’s best about kids combined with bluebirds. I decided on the moment of discovery when a box is opened and its contents revealed—that Christmas morning feeling of finding turquoise eggs or big ol’ healthy baby bluebirds looking back at you.

I needed a subject. Hmmm. I happen to know a beautiful boy who really digs that moment. I sought no farther than my own boy Liam.

Compared to a lot of paintings I’ve done recently, this’n was a breeze, nice and small, with subject matter I could really connect with. Might as well throw a few of my favorite things in the painting, hoping they’re a few of Sandy’s favorites, too.

An untroubled blue summer sky. Hayrolls. Slanting late afternoon light with gold touching the grass in streaks. Liam looking in a bluebird box. Well, I'd add that. This reference photo was taken along my bluebird route, a place I'll visit today, finding eggs in box after box.

Start the painting with a spray bottle and a nice wet field, and stroke the blue on it. Turn the painting upside down and tilt it so the color concentrates toward the top of it, just like it does in the sky. Let it dry tilted.

Lay in the sun gold, so it can shine through the grass and in some places stand alone.


Bring on the meadow green, leaving the sunlit parts pure bright gold.

Start on the trees, making sure the sunlit one has a gold underpainting.

Leave some skyholes in the trees, and tickle in the deep shadows. Only the deep shadows will tell you the sunlit parts are bright.

Oh, goody! Hayrolls! And their cast shadows. More detail in the trees, with branches and trunks now.

Liam’s for dessert.

Oh, but what color to make his T-shirt? I plan a few different colors, and paint them on a piece of tracing paper to see what looks nice.

I like them all, but Phoebe, Bill and Liam all think the red is a bit of a cliché. I decide to understate it and leave his shirt white.

A little more detail on the box and on his clothes and face. It’s perilously hard to paint a boy two inches tall and make him still look like your child. The less fussing about the face, the better it comes out, I find.

Being careful first to cover that perfect sky with craft paper, I spatter the grass in the foreground for a nice, unstudied effect and decide the painting is done.

Congratulations, Sandy, and thanks to you and your Take a Kid Along program for opening the world of bluebirds to some very fortunate kids.

19 comments:

I like this step-by-step very much. And Bob Ross would totally dig your 'happy little hayrolls that live over here..."

Very cool post! I can't paint to save my life, so I really enjoyed seeing how a piece like this comes together.

Wow! Cool! Very very cool! I would be over the moon if I ever received an award with an original painting from you!!

Am I using too may exclamation marks!!??

So, how long from start to finish did this take you? Also love how the color of Liam's t-shirt was decided.

This is so special. I agree, the white shirt is perfect. You know, someone should be painting YOU a picture.

Oh my gosh.

Can't imagine Sandy's delight.

And what is it about rays of sun across a field of grass?

Lovely, Julie.

I liked, "...tickle in the deep shadows."

Great lesson!

Oooh, it's gorgeous! It would've been easy to take the conventional route and just paint birds or nests, but I think you took a more unique approach that still conveys the joys of bluebird monitoring. (Not that you wouldn't have done such subjects beautifully, of course!)

I know you've mentioned agonizing over grass before, but I think it turned out beautifully in this piece (the splatters add a really nice touch.) I'm really tempted to kick off my shoes aand run around in your field (taking care not to disturb the bluebirds, of course). And I'd never heard of the trick of testing out a color on tracing paper...that's really neat.

Have you heard of a watercolorist named Mary Whyte? (Maybe everyone has, but she's a fairly recent discovery for me!) I think she tends to do more portraiture but I think you'd appreciate her technique.

Can't wait to see more!

P.S. Your kids' fashion sense is totally rad.

What a wonderful idea for a gift. A beautiful treasure.

Julie, your artistic talent is amazing. You are a true renaissance woman and I love your blog.

Wish that I could one day get an award painted by J. Zickefoose. :)

Beautiful!
And all my favorites are in this one--the shade of green I adore, the round bales, blubebird boxes, and Liam.
I would imagine all who receive your creations treasure them, not only for their artistic merit, but for whose talent composes such a lovely thing.

Thanks for sharing this.

Absolutely Gorgeous......Is there no end to the talents of "Our Lady Of The Birds?"

It has a certain Norman Rockwell feel to it.

Wonderful painting Julie!

Just wonderful! If I was capable of doing something like that, there would just be no living with me.

What a charming depiction of your step-by-step process culminating in a beautiful keepsake, Julie. Thank you for honoring Sandy with both words and paint. Joanie (BAN)

I just love when you share your painting process with us. You do it with such ease. Wonderful painting! I love it.

Julie,
I have always admired your beautiful paintings and the wonderful stories that you write. I am so thrilled and honored that you created this beautiful picture for me. You perfectly captured the essence of the Take-A-Kid Along program. And to see the process that you went through is so interesting.

I love the fact that Liam was the model and that he also signed the painting. I too like the white T-shirt. It just fits and makes the scene seem so realistic.

You have many amazing talents and I (along with many others) am so happy that you use those talents to promote the natural world around us.

Thank you so much. The painting is displayed in a prominent spot in our home where I will enjoy looking at it every day.
Sandy Seibert

Julie,
I have always admired your beautiful paintings and the wonderful stories that you write. I am so thrilled and honored that you created this beautiful picture for me. You perfectly captured the essence of the Take-A-Kid Along program. And to see the process that you went through is so interesting.

I love the fact that Liam was the model and that he also signed the painting. I too like the white T-shirt. It just fits the scene and makes it look so realistic.

You have many amazing talents and I (along with many others) am so happy that you use those talents to promote the natural world around us.

Thank you so much. The painting is displayed in a prominent spot in our home where I will enjoy looking at it every day.
Sandy Seibert

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