Monday, April 5, 2010


"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!

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Mary - This is excellent! I would love to see a step by step on how you did the background. It looks great.

Mary Jansen said...

Thank you Michelle! I will be more diligent about posting the process in the future. Step by steps are great learning tools and I always appreciate them when other artists post them. This one I had to do rather quickly as I wanted to get it into a show I'll be hanging tomorrow. Boy I hate deadlines!

Alex Zonis said...

This is stunning!

I can't believe this is watercolor. Amazing technique, composition and subject!

Anonymous said...

The green herons have not yet been to my pond, but they will show up. roger My e-mail address is rmarz@cablespeed.com. Send me your number. I will give you a call. roger

Mary Jansen said...

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look Alex! I simply love everything about birds and wild places. My most fulfilling days were spent backpacking and birdwatching in Yosemite in CA. Blissful!