Captive Angst........

I am fortunate to live in an area of the country where eagles abound, both the bald and the golden eagles. From my home perched high upon a ridge overlooking the canal, daily I witness their amazing grace.  I've watched them lock talons and plummet towards the earth in what would appear a suicidal wish, only to part and return to a safer altitude seconds before a fatality occurs. It's true in the animal kingdom too - what you won't do you will do for love - it's all a part of the mating ritual for them.....eek!

Even with a wingspan of up to 7.5 feet,

it's almost comical the way they can

be intimidated by the very territorial

pair of crows which guard our ridge here.

The crows are relentless in pestering these

majestic birds to the point of (I am certain) 

ad nauseam.

In a previous blog* I had referred to a Birds of Prey sanctuary which had me taking tons of photographs and walking away very inspired.  And depressed.  While it was a wonderful place for these birds to recover (and/or live out their days if necessary due to injury), the empathy I felt for these great creatures was immense.
*see previous blog entitled; Housekeeping as Inspiration  under the month of MAY- cuz I am just sure you were wondering so you can zoom over there just as soon as you finish this blog....go ahead - I know you want to, the blog list is just to the right .

Later, in conversation with my nephew,  he shared a photo he had shot of this golden eagle at a rehab center near him.  I just knew when I saw the photo I would HAVE to paint this one!  This great creature's look/stance just screamed to me the frustration and boredom that he must have been feeling towards all things "humanoid", as though he was completely aware of the fact that if not for the stupidity of some human activity he wouldn't have been required to be here!  Most of the paintings I have seen of these magnificent birds are done in a more regal pose, and I was immediately drawn to the peculiarity of this one.

 I did change the background from what was in the photo......he was originally up against a chain linked fence at a different angle and perched on a well worn beam.  I chose a rock for a more natural perch and moved the fence for a more balanced composition .....hey - artistic license, what can I say? 

 Did I succeed I wonder?

Though this is a very monochromatic piece, I am always surprised when  I use a limited palette.   So many colors actually appear in the finished painting.  For this piece I only used variations of four colors......

and a little dab of yellow just for his eyes.

 I truly hadn't a clue about how I was planning on building up the area on the back side of the fence so I blindly proceeded (how professional).   Using different brushes, a sponge, and eventually a palette knife which I used to scrape down and move pigment.  This experimentation netted a look I was pleased with.  I then set out to render the posts and the chain link......all the while reminding myself to stop short of finishing it all the way - "we wanted just a suggestion of a fence, leaving something for the viewer to imagine". 

 I'm glad I stopped where I did, happy with this innuendo of a fence.  Now on to our bird with the attitude.....

Did you know; the golden eagle is 
North America's largest bird of prey? 

#1

 #1)  Beginning with his head, I exaggerated the blue on his beak (just because I liked it) and then proceeded with the eye. The eye is the one place that can either make or break your piece.

#2

#3

#4

#2) #3) and #4)  
What began as an attempt to loosen up my style, quickly became a challenge to accurately mix the colors for each feather of our star of the show, 

(and in doing so, clearly lost sight of my goal to loosen it up).  

For the most part I was able to match colors to the photo and discovered after the paint dried that the accuracy was improved  further by going back over many of them with a glaze or two of a slightly altered shade of the same hue.  I found myself almost hypnotized with the feathers as I painted them. 
( I know....weird )

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Interesting fact: the golden eagle has over 2,000 feathers, from small downy ones for keeping the bird warm when it's riding the often freezing thermals to large broad flight feathers.

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Here's something cool: on my way-to-fancy-for-me-smartphone-camera under the editing feature there is an option (among many others) which will change the picture to its negative.  I just thought this was nifty looking and who knows, maybe someday it will inspire me to actually do a negative piece?

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Bet you didn't know this: extremely swift, golden eagles can dive upon their quarry at speeds of almost 200 miles per hour!

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.....and finally #5 
after fiddling with a few minor details 
and adding my signature:

Captive Angst

     18" x 24"    

Acrylic on rag paper mounted to cradled wood panel

(in case anybody really wanted to know)..... 

and I see here #5 is a little washed out, color-wise, compared to the previous two.  A truer color match to the original painting is #3 or #4 (and thanks blogspot for screwing with my metadata....cuz it couldn't be myyyyyy fault!).

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 Thanks Kyle, for allowing me 

the honor of using your beautiful photo 

as inspiration for this piece.

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