November 25, 2024
It has been quite a while since I saw this scene. It was on a balmy September day some years ago. I was lounging at the edge of a little vegetation covered pond. And I saw them coming: a mother goose with several goslings behind her. It always amazes me that these birds are so organised! It must be that momma goose knows exactly how much discipline to apply!

The scene was not easy to capture, to be honest. The surface of the pond was absolutely covered with white fluff and the trees surrounding the pond threw extremely long shadows in the water. This has kept me busy for several weeks on a fairly large mounted canvas! Working on bigger surfaces means there is nowhere to hide. Everything needs to be in the right place and all colours need to be spot-on and believable. At first I thought I would render a Monet version of the scene, but in the end this is what appeared on the canvas. The Decorte version…