Western Meadowlark Painting

"Western Meadowlark," prints and the original are available for sale on Etsy

I thought I'd share a bit about my process for painting my latest bird, the Western Meadowlark.  This bird is the official state bird for Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming (that sure is a popular bird)!  It is a beautiful bird that is know for its distinct voice, so I decided to paint this bird with its mouth open as if it were squawking or singing.

Before I sketch each state bird and start the painting process, I like to research the bird first by looking at photographs and reading about it.  My wonderful brother gave me a beautifully illustrated book of North American birds for Christmas called The Crossley ID Guide-Eastern Birds, so I used that book as a starting point to get familiar with the Western Meadowlark.  

From there, I began the painting process, and here are a few pictures that I snapped while painting.  

Once I finished all the detail work, I couldn't decide if I should leave the background white or paint it.  I obviously decided on a bright blue background, which I think really makes the whole painting pop!  Here's a sample of the color I used, one of my favorite colors called Cerulean Blue Hue.

I hope that you like this latest bird of mine, it was an enjoyable process painting it with all of its feathery details.  Nevertheless, I could use your input on if you prefer these bird paintings with colorful or white backgrounds.  You can check out some of my other state bird paintings at my Etsy Shop if you'd like to compare the different looks!  I'd love to hear your thoughts for future reference, thanks!

Happy Tuesday!

Jennifer

New Paper for Prints!

I have been crazy busy lately searching for the best rag paper to use for my art prints, and I am beyond excited to announce that I have finally found it!  Moving forward, my archival art prints will now be printed on AMAZING Hahnemuele William Turner 310 gsm rag paper!

For those of you who don’t quite know what that means, let me try to explain what it is that I love about this paper.  I want only the best for my work (and you as customers deserve only the best, too), so here is the breakdown of what, in my opinion, is so special about this paper.

First off, a little background might by helpful.  Hahnemule is a paper manufacturing company based in Germany.  Their company dates back to 1584 (yes, 1584!), and they are industry leaders when it comes to producing high quality fine art papers.  Although I tested papers from other great companies, I just kept coming back to Hahnemule rag paper (by the way, rag paper is made from cotton remnants and is an acid free paper that is pretty top-notch in the art world).  Hahnemule also has a long record of using responsible sources when it comes to their environmental impact.  As a very eco-conscious person, knowing this is a great-added bonus to using their papers.

Hahnemule has many types of fine art paper to choose from, so within the brand itself I also tested some of their different papers.  The William Turner rag paper, though, was by far my favorite!  It is a very unique paper, and you can tell that just by feeling it.  The texture to this paper is just incredible!  It has this crisp and almost chalky feel to it, and yet it is incredibly durable.  You can actually see the texture on this paper.  And as a watercolor artist who likes working on textured paper, I think that offering that same kind of texture on my prints is pretty cool.  So if you buy one of my prints, it will look almost exactly like the original painting itself- color, texture and all!

I should also mention that the weight and thickness to this paper is similar to what I use when painting original work.  The William Turner rag paper can be printed at two weights, and I am choosing to print on the heaviest weight at 310 gsm (grams per square meter). Gsm refers to the weight of the paper, and 310 gsm is a pretty hefty weight (to give a quick comparison, paper found in an office printer is typically between 70-100 gsm).  So when you buy a print from me, you are now getting some pretty serious fine art paper!

In addition to its awesome texture and durability, the paper creates top-notch prints in terms of color and overall quality.  My jaw actually dropped the first time I printed on it because I was so blown away by how my print looked on the paper! The paper that you choose to print on actually makes a huge difference in the overall look and feel of the print.  Depending on one’s style, medium, etc., different papers work for different artists.  For my work, though, this paper compliments my watercolors amazingly.  The results with this paper take my prints to a whole new level! 

I am so thrilled to now be offering this paper, especially because my prints now look and feel just like my original work!  And if you buy a print for yourself, you, too, will see what it all is that I am raving about!

Feel free to share your questions or comments with me.  And to my artist friends out there, do you have a paper preference when it comes to printing?

Happy Saturday!

Jennifer