I found a great price for some picture frames the other day, so I bought 2. Now I'm inspired to create some new art, but I'd like to do it quick. And, since my free time is very limited I tried a new technique that I'm very happy with......but I really feel like I'm cheating...
The plan is to have a two paintings, one of a male and one a female quail.
I took a photo of a female as she was perched "on lookout". I brought it in to Photoshop and changed levels, saturations, hues, cropped it, and erased unimportant elements... then I did a watercolor filter-a.k.a. the cheating part. Now, I've printed it on watercolor paper, and am inking some outlines and marking certain lowlights by hand. I found another good picture that I had of a male quail and did the same. And now, I have my two great looking faux watercolors!
We have Gambel's Quails visit our yard nearly every day; often with their young families. It is entertaining to watch them with one on a lookout, while the covey searches for seed in the sand. The males are much more decorated and colorful, than the female. They adorn a red cap, usually distinctly pear-shaped, and have a much more pronounced plume on top of their heads. The picture above is the female... with an understated beauty.
:)
