I may have a few tweaks (and a signature) to make to this painting when it has dried a bit, but I think it’s done. I managed to get both birds in the image without it looking goofy. The immature little blue heron is under the willow, looking like he's wondering if the great egret is willing to share the pond. If you look closely you can see that he sports a little patch of dark feathers.
I left out a couple rocks (among other things) that were in my reference photos. There were just too many bright objects on the shore and I needed to give the egret some space. Now, I like the way the line of rocks says, "Rock, rock, rock, bird! See, an artist can improve on reality!
Note: as you might imagine, the painting looks 10 times better than this photo can show. I’m rather proud of the shade area to the left of the path. In the original it's alive with muted flowers. There’s a lot to explore in this canvas. I hope you like it.
