Day Nine: "Murder Of Crows"

What an interesting day... snow flurries and blustery! My favorite kind of day... even, diffused light, and a warm fire.

To start with today, I needed to do some sketching to clarify the composition in my mind, and better define the figures. I would recommend keeping a sketchbook as well as a journal to keep record of those fleeting ideas that all too frequently disappear.

With these two sketches, I'm trying out some ideas for the composition. The sketch on the left is an abstracted layout, describing the depth and space I see in the painting, and hope to develop further. The sketch on the right incorporates more of the details that I find are already emerging within the painting. I'm sketching here on paper to try out poses for the figures before moving to the canvas.  I suppose I should clarify that these sketches are completed in pen and ink. I find that I prefer using pen and ink because it is not easily erased, so if I decide to change my mind I have to redraw the image...more practice!

These two pages of sketches are getting to know the subject better, training my hand at recognizing the shapes and textures. On the right, the lower figure has already become established on the canvas. I'm not as solid with the white crow's pose yet.

In this image of the canvas, it is easy to see the basic abstract form (from the sketch above) coming forth, and the crouching black crow from the sketch standing at the bottom of the canvas is starting a counter-point that I hope to develop using a sight-line between him and what will be the white crow.

As far as the story behind this moment I'm painting (the subject), I'm working with the idea that this "Murder Of Crows" is debating the existence of the white crow. I've discovered in my research that white crows do exist, they are separate breed, altogether different from the more common black crow. Albino crows also exist, as they do among all lifeforms. I am almost more drawn to using an albino crow in this composition, because (as I understand the phenomenon) it would be more likely an albino crow would be gathering here than a white crow.

Paint well...