Birds on a Wire Barn Swallows
by Conni Schaftenaar
Original - Not For Sale
Price
Not Specified
Dimensions
9.000 x 12.000 inches
This piece is not for sale. Please feel free to contact the artist directly regarding this or other pieces.
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Title
Birds on a Wire Barn Swallows
Artist
Conni Schaftenaar
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Paper
Description
Barn Swallows on a wire, watercolor on paper by Conni Schaftenaar.
I painted the base image in May of 2015 and recently dug it out to add some details. The painting was done as part of a watercolor class where we mapped out our basic image, masked areas (in my case, the swallows and the wire and the fence post) and then poured color to form a soft focus background. While still wet, colors were dropped in to provide more background soft focus interest.
When I got the painting back out, I added some detail to the foreground flowers and added in a fence row scrub tree (the bane of people who maintain fences, but interesting to look at!). I had painted the detail of the wire and the birds and fence post back in 2015.
Pouring for a soft focus background is an interesting experience, and you never know exactly how the colors will flow together and blend. For this background, I used Prussian blue at the top very very lightly, left some "cloudy" spaces, then more Prussian Blue below with Aureolin Yellow to create the spring green color in the middle. Further down, I dropped in a little bit of a green I had mixed from Sap Green and a tiny bit of Burrnt Sienna, which also makes an appearance in the fence post.
Featured in these FAA groups:
Greeting Cards for All Occasions, January 2017
Painting Cafe, January, 2017
Exclusively Drawings & Paintings, February 2017
2nd Place, Rural Fences as a Focal Point Contest, February 2019
Uploaded
January 29th, 2017
Statistics
Viewed 911 Times - Last Visitor from Houston, TX on 03/29/2024 at 7:14 AM
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Comments (21)
Laurel Adams
This stumble into your portfolio is yielding glimpses of indescribable beauty…SOoo exciting, Conni!…we have our front porch swallow babies and they are SO beautiful! This is a prelude to Spring around the wintry corner!…FAV
Susan Janus
Seriously, do not be shocked! Your fence does an excellent job of proving your Fence Is Rural, in a minimalist way. This was something with which many entries had great difficulty. It's important to the composition of your Rural Fence painting, that both your fence and your location are believable, without question. A deserved win!! Pat yourself on the back! :) ~Admin Choice Awards
Susan Janus
Congratulations! :) You have won ~ Fence Is Rural, 2nd Prize ~ in the "Rural Fences as a Focal Point" contest. Total Qualifying Entries: 476. Thank you for participating. Happy Friday!
Connie Handscomb
Such a sweet springtime watercolour, Conni!;))
Conni Schaftenaar replied:
Thanks, Connie - I am always happy when those beautiful swallows return to our farm each spring - should be soon now!
Marsha Reeves
The pouring in the background was very effective! We have cliff swallows mostly in this part of Texas, and i love to watch them! l/f
Conni Schaftenaar
Thanks to the group, "Exclusively Drawings & Paintings", for featuring my painting!
Conni Schaftenaar
Thanks to the group, "Greeting Cards for All Occasions", for featuring my painting!
Maria Hunt
Thank you for uploading this lovely painting, Connie.. .I love the technique you used here, the description helps me attempt it. One can see your inherent talent with the wire and post.. Like you I go back from time to time to rework paintings that need help.. Love your additions. So much talent!! Warmest regards from the desert. F/L
Conni Schaftenaar replied:
Thanks, Maria - the post and the wire, along with the poured background, turned out well, wish I liked the birds better! LOL!