One of the most interesting paintings I’ve created for Louisiana Through Wild Eyes is also one of the quieter ones.
It’s called Nestled In, and it features a female cardinal sitting in her nest.
When most people picture a cardinal, they immediately think of that brilliant red bird that is so easy to spot against green trees or a winter landscape. But that’s the male cardinal. Female cardinals look very different. Their feathers are much more muted, with beautiful shades of brown and touches of red.
They don’t necessarily demand your attention in the same way.
And I think that’s part of what made me want to paint this one.
Finding Her Nest
The photograph behind Nestled In was taken by Dave McNamara while he was walking along a boardwalk in a nature area.
Someone passing by asked him if he had seen the cardinal nest.
He hadn’t.
They pointed it out, and when Dave looked straight down from the boardwalk, there she was, tucked into her little nest almost directly below him.
She was completely nestled in, which is exactly where the title came from.
Of course, Dave started taking pictures, and he captured some beautiful images of her sitting there surrounded by the branches and greenery.
When I saw the photograph, I knew it would make an interesting painting.
Painting Something a Little Different
Female cardinals aren’t as flashy as males, and I think that can make them easy to overlook. But when you really study one, there is so much beautiful color in those feathers.
Painting her gave me the opportunity to work with all of those subtle browns while adding little touches of red throughout. The feathering was probably my favorite part. I could slowly build up the colors and details without turning her into the bright red cardinal everyone expects to see.
She needed to remain soft enough to blend naturally into her surroundings.
That is one of the things I love about this painting. You still immediately recognize her as a cardinal, but you are seeing a different side of the species.
And Then There Was the Nest…
I thought the bird would be the hard part.
I was wrong.
Honestly, the nest was probably just as technically challenging as the cardinal herself.
There were so many little branches, pieces of grass and overlapping textures to figure out. Even drawing the painting took forever because I had to make sense of all of those tiny details before I could start adding paint.
A nest can look like a jumble when you first see it. But once you start painting it, you realize that every twig and strand contributes to the shape and structure.
It was definitely one of those paintings where the background couldn’t just be an afterthought.
A Different Look at a Familiar Louisiana Bird
That is ultimately why Nestled In has become such an interesting piece to me.
Cardinals are incredibly familiar birds. Most of us know exactly what a cardinal looks like, or at least we think we do.
But usually, the image that immediately comes to mind is the male.
This painting asks you to look a little closer.
The female isn’t bright red. She doesn’t stand out dramatically against her environment. Her browns, tans and touches of red allow her to blend into the natural world around her, especially while she is tucked safely into her nest.
And yet, when you stop and really look at her, she is just as beautiful.
That’s one of my favorite things about Louisiana Through Wild Eyes. Dave’s photographs have given me the opportunity to paint Louisiana wildlife in ways I might not have thought of otherwise. Sometimes that means painting a dramatic moment or an animal in motion.
And sometimes it means looking straight down from a boardwalk and noticing a little brown cardinal nestled quietly into her nest.
“Nestled in “Nestled In” is still for sale. Please contact me for pricing.