Yippie I'm joining the artistic blogosphere!

I have enjoyed reading other artists' blogs so much that I decided to join in the fun. Let's see, what painting shall I post first? I'll start with "Duck Buddies," one of seven that I have submitted for Karen Nichols' November show on the Rural Remants in San Fernando Valley:

Duck Buddies 11x14 oil on canvas, NFS now

I definitely anthropomorphize animals. So the main guy is looking at you, and I tried to make him intensely curious, alert and welcoming. Like when I was painting human faces at the L.A. Academy of Figurative Art, it surprised me how millimeter changes strongly altered the emotion I felt "he" conveyed. (Just realized it's a he.) The curve of a cheek, teensy adjustments to the size, placement and darkness of an eye or a beak---like Paul Ekman's studies on how humans communicate emotions through minute changes in eyebrows etc.

I worked to make the three white bodies different colors, to give them layers of color with downy depths, and get just the right proud curve in the middle one's chest, with a strong thrusting foot. The fourth duck is a little bonus surprise, I deliberately tried to blend it in. And I like that the background is a mixture of earthy straw with a feeling of water as well. Enjoy my buddies and welcome to my new venture! Even back at the University of Michigan art school I would get frustrated when other artists did not want to articulate what they'd done or spell out the metaphorical meaning in their choices, because I enjoy that, so that will be a focus for these missives. I think it adds to a work and still lets an onlooker respond freely.

Oh, and another thing: I often wish artists would tell me if they worked from a photo and if they asked the stranger for the photo or how they got the animal to pose, etc. So, the duck on the right was from one photo, the other two whites were from a second, and the Mallard in the back was from a third. It is sometimes nervewracking to combine several photos, but I find it usually necessary, in fact I can only think of two paintings recently where one shot was pleasing enough that I did not make major changes or combine it with others. I'd love to hear the experience of other artists on that.