Entry E
17″ x 24″, watercolor on paper
I was a freshman when the American artist, John James Audubon was introduced to me. I was already absolutely fascinated by the beauty of nature and Mr. Audubon’s depictions of life-size birds in their natural habitat captured my imagination and my attention. His dramatic scenes embodied his subjects with a story like quality as well as his use of color and realism, while still maintaining an ornithological illustrative quality. From parrots to finches to predatory hawks, he captured God’s amazing design in the natural world. Audubon’s love of birds mirrored my own love of animals, thus he was a perfect inspiration and role model for my own life-size replication of a Scarlet Macaw from Costa Rica. I hoped to capture the drama of this beautiful bird through color contrast, saturation and sharpness. It was a long process of layering to create the color intensity of this stunning bird. I hope to capture my audience’s imagination with the drama in this moment. It was a joy to study this elegant creature through the art of watercolor.