new project: "fishin' buddies"

i did decide to do the land/water scape with a figure or two in the foreground.  i found three photos that i took two summers ago down in the backwaters of the mississippi.  there are always a large number of aquatic birds down there from green herons, through great blues, to great white egrets.  it was a picture- perfect summer day with abundant sunshine and a sky filled with cumulus clouds.  these are the photos of the egrets as well as the photo i am going to use for the setting.  in the background are the bluffs which define the east bank of the river and the eastern extent of the city of la crosse.  they are about 500 foot high sandstone bluffs. the one just to the right of center has a huge US flag flying over it and i am unsure at this time of including it in the painting but it is visible and would add a small speck of color.

great white egret poised to strike

great white egret looking for next victim

 bluffs over mississippi slough

initial stages of "fishin' buddies"

as i said last time, the trick will be to get the birds not to look like they were cut out with a cookie-cutter and pasted down.  the way to get them to look like part of the scene is to lose some edges.  this is what i have attempted to do with the initial stages of the painting depicted here.  i have tried to maintain a found, sharp edge out in the sun (toward the right and above) and lose the edge and soften it away from the sun in the shadow side of the figures (left and down).  i hope this will work.  so far i think that it does...do you? more tomorrow.