Black-Capped Chickadee: Balancing Act
Black-Capped Chickadees are the acrobatic clowns of North America. They frequent the bird feeders outside my window and bring joy on the dreariest of days with their cheerful call and comical antics.
Despite their small size, they are quite brave. Often I can stand very close while they pull seeds from the feeder. In years past, I have even had them land on my shoulder for a fleeting instant.
In addition to their entertainment value, Black-Capped Chickadees provide valuable pest control, eating many insects that are harmful to agriculture. A huge amount of their preferred habitat has been lost to suburban sprawl and deforestation, but we can give back what we have taken from them by providing feeders and nestboxes. Please consider eliminating the use of pesticides and instead welcome a natural and entertaining form of pest control to your property.
(This image is from an older watercolor painting that had been damaged. I scanned a section of the original and did some minor touch-ups using digital software.)
All artwork and text © Copyright 2009 DoAn Art (Antony Galbraith) unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Antony Galbraith.
Black-Capped Chickadee: Balancing Act belongs to the following groups:
Animal Kingdom and Wildlife and Pet Paintings
FAIRIEWOMAN1
The sumie -e influence is strong here, DoAn. This is an elegant painting and evocative of spring in her first weeks. I like your use of postive and negative space. This would be beautiful embroidered in silk threads.
doanart replied
Thanks Helena. You are very observant! I completed this painting shortly after two years of calligraphy and Asian-style brush painting lessons. Those lessons were a tremendous influence on my art and continue to inform how I compose and view my artwork. I am intrigued by your suggestion of embroidering this image….
Ming Myaskovsky
Yes, definitely SUMI, perfect title, too!!
doanart replied
Thanks Ming! Glad you caught the “hint” in the title, I wondered if it would be too subtle.
zouzou
love it !!!!!
doanart replied
Thanks Zouzou!
mimi yoon
beautiful painting, antony… i’ve been living in my house now for about 10 years now, and have one of these birds come to my backyard every day right around 4 -5pm-ish… same bird… there are days i don’t look out the window standing in my kitchen, but i do believe he comes then too… and he takes a dip in my swimming pool… cutest thing and i see now what he’s picking from my pool… floating insects, i guess… thank you for sharing beautiful painting and the info on this little guy… do they live that long?
doanart replied
What a lovely story. Thank you for sharing it. Chickadees only live about three years, but I am certain you are being visited by successive generations of one line of Chickadees…in a way, you are watching the same bird, reborn again and again. What a beautiful gift to have in your own backyard!
Luke Brannon
I really enjoy the play of light and shadow in the branches. Very nice!
doanart replied
Thanks Luke. I did spend some time considering that aspect of the painting. It was challenging because the light is diffuse and the mood somber, but I didn’t want the painting to be flat and lifeless. I used a branch of curly willow that I had for reference. What a fun object to work with!
Luke Brannon
doanart, it was well worth it. The branches really bring the work to life. :)