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pallanoph — Resplendent Magpie
Published: 2010-10-27 04:21:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 21579; Favourites: 1116; Downloads: 0
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Description
Apologies for my lack of response, activity, etc. I've quite a lot on my list that needs doing soon, aside from the list of commissions.
I've not been terribly wise with my time, let's just go that route. 
This is a piece that was done surprisingly quickly for the annual art sale held at my college (MCAD) each November. I didn't have any "leftovers" or other works that I felt could be sold, so I decided I'd get some painting done proper. Besides, somehow buyers know if a piece is old, and I've never sold old works. Odd.
Probably has something to do with them being terrible, ha.I confess that, despite never having encountered one in real life, I love magpies. Such beautiful birds, and with such mischievous personalities! People tell me that my opinion of them might change if I had to deal with them on a day to day basis, though I'll counter that by saying I've dealt with some pretty loud and annoying birds myself. (Nesting colonies of grackles, anyone?)
I find myself fond of birds in general. 
For those of you who remember (not likely anyone, I don't think) I'll still be uploading my own magpie-like species at some point in the future... that is, once I have more important work finished/in progress!
This was painted on a cross section of basswood with acrylic ink (sepia), watercolor, and acrylics. The wood texture is... fun.
But I like the final effect. Size is roughly 11 x 15" (28 x 38 cm).Art © April Schumacher
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Comments: 178
Very creative, using a block of wood as a canvas--nice use of space, and I love the wisps of mist around the branches.
Oh, and the magpie's very good too.
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As a kid I loved crows, particularly Magpie's; they dont have a great reputation but they were my favourite bird...I like the way their feathers have a green and blue tint to them, and you've represented that brilliantly here. Nice work.
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In school we have a pair of magpies building a nest in a tree right in front of the window 
And I really love your art, this one is excellent!
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I see magpies almost every day and I love them, too. They make so many funny noises and scared away our cat a few times.
Your painting is magical!
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One for sorrow, Two for joy
Three for a girl, Four for a boy
Five for silver, Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told.
I don't know why but my family has always known this poem, your meant to count the magpies you see while singing it. I live in England so we have a lot of magpies, I like how their green feathers are almost metallic and change hue in the sunlight.
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Bah. There are magpies in my town and I always enjoy seeing one. They are one of the most beautiful birds I've seen.
That said, you did wonderfully on this one. I absolutely love its wings and the green tail. I think you managed to capture their beauty perfectly.
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Corvid love 
This is what I get for abandoning DA for months at a time, I miss gorgeous things like this...
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I love magpies! There's hundreds around where I live and they D actully steal shiney stuff, it gets annoying sometimes!
Amazing painting/drawing....thing.
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hi!your work is featured in my journal,hope you don't mind
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Gorgeous! I had the (dubious) honor of having a window near a magpie nest one summer. Those babies get up early, let me tell you.
Did you that in Northwest American Indian lore, Magpie is the messenger, because of his flashy wings?
You work is gorgeous, thank you for sharing!
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Wow, you've really done a great job on this peice. I love the dramatic, beautiful pose.
Magpies are some of my favorites because of their coloration, and I see that you've done an amazing job with the colors! Again, great work!!
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i love magpies- this is beautiful! am half tempted to get a tattoo of it!
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Wow, I love how you draw birds
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Wow, this is simply gorgeous! For someone who has never encountered a magpie in real life, you sure did capture all the aspects about one -- the anatomy, the color, and the "personality" of the species through the pose. Well done.
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Gorgeous!! I'm pretty sure we have those in Beijing, I've seen lots of gorgeous black, white, and green long-tailed birds around, although I'm not sure what type they are. Now that I think of it, perhaps those were what used to make an ungodly racket around 5-6 pm every day. During the summer I would write until the birds started up, and then they were so loud I couldn't hear myself think and would have to stop for dinner! Regardless, I love them. I just love the troublemaker birds--pigeons, crows, seagulls, etc. (Honestly, the only bird that's ever REALLY driven me up the wall was this crazy vireo that woke me up every day for months acting like a drunken hobo, but that's another story)
Anyway, this is extra awesome because of the wood canvas!
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Do you ever sell these? I absolutely adore all of them that Ive seen you post on here.
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Beautiful work. As for magpies, I like them too, and I see them frequently. I find people become less fond of them once they've stolen a person's entire lunch. They are bold and cheeky.
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Wow, it looks great! Do you need to do anything to prep the wood before painting?
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Thank you! I didn't use anything to prep the wood before painting, though I did seal it off with a clear acrylic coat... in this instance, I used Minwax "Polycrylic," which is a waterbased protective finish. I used the "satin finish" variety. Works awesome! I used to use the same thing to prep birch panels before painting on them with oils.
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Beautiful!
And about magpies. Up here in Sweden we have tons of them, they're everywhere, and I've dealt with them on a day to day basis all of my life, and they've been nesting pretty much outside my house... I still think they are gorgeous birds! I love them just like a love crows and jackdaws, and I don't see why other people wouldn't like them 
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Thank you!
I'm a fan of all corvids, regardless of how noisy. I assume I'd be able to get along with them, then! 
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You're welcome ^^
Me too, they're some of my favourite birds ^^
Haha, yes, lucky me
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I like magpies. And day to day, they aren't that irritating (at least, not here in London). Can be a little noisy sometimes, i guess, but the parakeets are worse.
Beautiful painting.
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I am sad for you that you've never encountered a magpie. They delight me daily here in Montana and I have to say this is a truly beautiful painted rendition of one!
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Wow, I can't imagine never having seen a magpie, they're all over the place in Europe!
The tail feathers look a tad bit too green for a real magpie to me, but otherwise this is gorgeous, I love your way of painting feathers.
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They seem to prefer the western half of the US, unfortunately... I need to go on a vacation over there at some point in my life.
They do look a bit too green... I've since attempted to darken them down a bit (haven't uploaded a revised image) but I'm not sure if I managed it.
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Mm, I think it might be since you painted it all green and in reality the feathers look black except for where the ligth falls... Do you think you'll upload that revised version?
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Magpies can be a bit annoying xD Once I opened the front door and found out that they had destroyed a trash bag, it was a bit messy... but I still like those birds, beautiful colours and funny to watch. Over here they are really common, doesn't go a day without seeing lots of them.
Beautiful painting and love the wings! I always love black and white combined with colours. Once saw a film on the tv about the sea and they showed a black and white striped sea snake against a field of corals
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omg....this is so beautiful! I really love how you did this! I see magpies all the time
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Beautiful work, love the colours on the feathers especially 
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We have a good deal of Magpies here in Denmark in general, I love the little buggers and cant understand why people dont like them more here xD
Everybody think their annoying :/
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This is just so damn classy. There's plenty of 'good art' on dA, but the place is sorely lacking for classy, beautiful pieces with an old-school attention to detail, composition, and anatomical correctness, and that demonstrate mastery of traditional media. So, so refreshing when it seems like I'm going to drown in animes drawn with tablets.
If I wasn't broke and wasn't living in a shabby rental house that frequently hosts college parties, I'd pay you large sums of money for large works of art I could hang over my fireplace and stuff. Seriously, get in touch with some art brokers because high class art is in high demand.
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Wow, I'm glad you think so! When I try to describe the work I normally do to people who have never seen it, I can't come up with a proper way to express it. It's not standard wildlife art, and it's not really any sort of fine art, either. So I struggle to explain what it is I'm striving for, and I usually fail at it.
Ah, you're too kind! 
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