Light Light Next to Dark Dark

"Hawaiian Crane" oil on Linen Panel, 14"x11"

PURCHASE THIS PAINTING

I've been making an effort to identify what it is about my paintings that is consistent. One thing I often do is use strong value changes in my paintings. Light lights next to dark darks. It's something I learned while I was in college, actually. I had an instructor that used to shout those words at us while we were working in class. I guess it stuck.

A friend of mine recently took a trip to Hawaii. She took a lot of pictures while she was there, and said I could use some as reference for my paintings. (Very generous, as she is also a painter!) This crane is referenced from one of her photos.

I expected this to be a study, just to learn a little about how to paint this type of bird. When I finished I realized I was very pleased with the way it looked.