The button quail is done. I'm glad I didn't try anything fancier for the background; I like the way the bird seems to emerge from the similar colors. I also like the combination of three main colors in the background; I've seen other artists use this technique and I think it adds depth. Now I have to figure out how to frame it. For smaller pieces, I've been using boards that are just the right thickness for a 3/4-inch tile border. This one is slightly thinner, and I don't have tiles that size, so I'm considering a shadow box-type frame in dark brown.
I think I need to learn some basic carpentry skills...
The subheading for this post is "The Customer is Always Right." I made this piece for clients who had seen the green and blue "Summer School" that I made a couple of months ago and wanted something like it but in a different color scheme, for an alcove in their home. They wanted to match their decor in mostly browns. I started with more pastels than brown, thinking it would be livelier, but the feedback I got was that they wanted less pastel - especially no pink, and no bright yellow or orange. At first I was not so happy with that directive, because when I think of fish, I think of bright colors, but then I found some beautiful caramel colors of glass, and some pale orange, and an off-white, as well as a rich honey brown and vibrant rust, and as the piece began to take shape, I realized they were right; there are so many variations to the base colors that the finished piece is as lively as if the fish were swimming right there on the wall! So the moral of this story is Listen to the Client and Everything Should Turn Out Right!
