Artist Oil Painting : Puffin | “Is This My Best Side”

artist oil painting Gary Jones Puffin

Oil painting on canvas of an Atlantic Puffin. Puffins are shorebirds that are known to inhabit rocky ledges on the east coast of the United States and other areas of the North Atlantic. Their colorful bills are actually only present during breeding season, and then they shed them every year, once it is over.

Although appearing stocky and less than agile on land, they are very adept flyers, beating their wings approximately 400 times per minute, and they can actually reach speeds of 55 miles per hour. They are also very good swimmers, since they can dive to depths of 200 feet, although they usually make shorter dives lasting from 20-30 seconds… when they are fishing for food, with their diet consisting of mainly small fish; like herring or sand eels.

I love the colorful, almost clown-like appearance of Puffins, and painting this one gave me the chance to expand my ability to explore color…especially in the white feathers that are in shadow on the face and chest, which as you can see, are really not ‘white’ at all.

Kind permission was given for use of this photo reference, by Gary Jones on Paint My Photo (pmp-art.com).

FOR SALE ~ $225

Oil on canvas ~ 16″ x 20″ © ArtistKarin Press Cohen – 2016

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