#2968 "Marshland Wood Duck Drake"

#2968 "Marshland Wood Duck Drake" 
20 x 30 by 7/8 depth stretched canvas (inches)
Started 10:00 am Monday, August 4th, 2025 

This is another image taken by my friend, John Verburg, a naturalist and terrific photographer. #2967 "Smoky Sky Sunset Cattle" was too wet to work on, so I grabbed another canvas and painted on. 

I chose to stay home and enjoy the ride with a near-zero carbon footprint. Painting and looking after nature keep me more than busy. Every day is full of interesting things to see and do. Just cleaning the bird houses takes a couple of days. 

The twenty Wood Duck boxes on the property successfully support not only ducks but all kinds of cavity-nesting creatures. One box has a family of flying squirrels. Everyone is welcome. 

The Wood Duck is a secretive cavity-nesting species. In Canada, it breeds primarily in the eastern provinces, including Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Wood Ducks were nearly hunted to extinction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Management efforts have been successful, and there are now well over a million Wood Ducks in North America - still not enough in my opinion. The Drake has red eyes without an eye ring. His bill is red, with a yellow band at the base and a black line above the nostrils to the tip. Legs and feet are dark yellow. The hen is mostly brownish-olive overall, with white streaks on the breast, dark eyes, and a teardrop-shaped white eye ring.

Here is the pictorial story of #2968 "Marshland Wood Duck Drake" ... a three-week adventure in colour.

The painting had to balance the detail of the Wood Duck Drake with the almost abstract nature of the marsh grasses. One can easily get lost in those details. I favoured a big brush and loose approach to the marsh grasses. 

#2968 "Marshland Wood Duck Drake"  nearing completion... just a few more strokes. 
At times, there were three palettes on the go to keep those colours clean. 

Looking back, Wood Ducks have been featured in five other paintings dating back to 1976. Each work brings back a flood of memories - all good. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick