I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this Green Heron reference photo I took last year. I love this bird so much I wanted him to be a part of my graphics bird card collection so here he is...again. He was drawn with Adobe Illustrator. I worked on him last week. A series of water birds will follow, (a Canada Goose, a Great Blue Heron for Debbie, and a White Pelican, and I think an egret...any other suggestions?)

"Stalking Supper" Mary Jansen 9" x 15"

I seen a number of Green Herons stalking dinner along the various streams here in IL. They are marvelous birds and are gifted with unique grace. They are wonderful to spot for they sit so still and patiently!
This guy was taken from one of my photos and superimposed on another background photo I had shot. I used lots of masking material in creating the woods in the background and intend to develop this technique further. Masking is tricky but it lends itself to marvelous textural effects one can achieve no other way!
Now that spring is here in full force I will focus more on the brilliant colors that it brings. Flowers abound in our sweet little town and I intend to take advantage of them!