In February Tom & I spent a week on Captiva Island, a wondrous place of bountiful nature, endless beaches & tons of gorgeous seashells just begging to be collected. On our first morning there, I stepped out onto the balcony of our room & spied a snowy egret strolling the length of the beach below. Although its overall demeanor was one of nonchalance, it was hard to ignore the frequent turn of its head seaward, which betrayed a certain purposefulness in this casual saunter at sunrise. I grabbed my camera & clicked…
The image I captured shows the egret from behind, in mid-stride, just as it looks toward the water. The scene is nearly colorless in the early-morning light. Amidst the range of grays, there is the merest hint of green in the water. The egret itself has a white body, light gray head & stark-black legs & beak.
In considering a new project, I always begin by asking myself exactly what it is that is beckoning me: Is it a shape? a color? the value pattern? texture? the way the light is falling? In this case, it was the very attitude of the egret being conveyed by the set of its body & legs as well as the turn of its head. Next question: How best to portray insouciance within the space of 3/4 of an inch? Silverpoint sprang to mind.
My encounter with this venerable medium late last year was the topic of an earlier blog. With silverpoint, it’s possible to achieve the thinnest, most delicate of lines or, alternatively, to lay down a uniform area of substantial tone, all depending upon the shape & size of the stylus point being used. Also, color can be added to a silverpoint drawing. This was the precise combination of qualities I needed to render this exceedingly subtle image.
Although the egret was unquestionably the focal point of this drawing, there were 2 things challenging its star turn: Its relatively small size (only occupying ½ inch of a 3×6 inch-photo) & – except for those black legs & beak – its total lack of color or value contrast with its surroundings. However, after altering the composition with some brutal cropping & some gentle enlarging, the egret was beginning to assume its rightful place: Undoubtedly the center of interest, yet still endearingly diminutive on that expansive beach.
Next I selected my tiniest stylus point to begin the drawing, first laying down the admittedly scant details of the egret, then constructing the somewhat complex pattern of wavelets & foam through which the bird is moving. Darkening the water around the egret’s white body while keeping it lighter around its black legs provided some of the requisite value contrast.
Meanwhile, an area of dark, packed sand was rendered by gradually building up layers of value with a broad, rounded stylus point. (This was very soothing indeed after the precision – & magnifying glass! – required for drawing the bird.) For the areas of open water, the edge of the broad stylus was used in a controlled sort of gouging gesture to indicate movement.
Finally, thin washes of watercolor were added to support the silverpoint: A lavender gray for the packed wet sand up on the beach & for the shoreline’s broken water; pale green for the limpid, open water. In between the two, silver gouache gave me the look of the shiny wet sand closest to the water’s edge. After everything was dry, I applied more silverpoint in select areas on top of the washes to further darken some values & provide more detail. Titanium white gouache, used sparingly on some of the bits of wave foam, was then applied rather thickly to the egret’s body to give it the “lightest light” value of the entire painting, thereby increasing its ability to attract our gaze first & foremost.
Last but not least, a sharp black pencil was used to emphasize the legs & beak. At first I was reluctant to introduce yet another medium into this work, but in the end, it seemed that the real story of this snowy egret could only be told if I gave it a proper beak & legs! Here is the final painting:
