The painting begins

White-winged Scoter: Ready to Paint

Next Up: A White-winged Scoter (Drake)

This stocky diving duck, characterized by its bulky shape and large bill has a white eye! Most ducks have brown or black eyes, though there are species with red and golden eyes. The White-wing Scoter is distinctive for its comma-shaped white eye patches and orange/red bill with black knob base. Large white patches on its speculum, stand in contrast to the black wing, making  the White-winged Scoter easy to identify in flight.

Here's what it looks like in the wild:

Here's the work in progress to date:

It all begins with a block of wood

Bart carved a Warbler for Shelley so I finally was able to get a shot of the initial project when the bird is nothing more than a block of wood cut from a pattern. I love watching the evolution of these carvings.

Northern Parula Warbler

No working photos of this little beauty but below is the piece of wood from which he sprung.

Finished project: Bufflehead Drake

Bufflehead Duck: The Painting Begins

Seen with Gesso Primer and just a bit of paint on the tail feathers....