This painting was a request for a friend who loves owls and specifically wanted a Great Horned Owl painting.  It was a bit of an art challenge for me as I hadn’t painted an owl before and did not know much about them.  Because the person this was painted for is really quite familiar with owls I wanted it to be a more realistic painting rather than using some of the wild colours I normally like to use, as I did with the Polar Bear paintings.  It can be scary going out of your comfort zone but I found it to be fun in the end.  I learned a lot about owls and even got to see one in person, which happened by coincidence just as I was about to paint this.  It also pushed me to use colours that I wouldn’t normally use which was a wonderful learning experience in itself.  In art and in life sometimes when you take the leap into the unknown you end up being glad you did!

Great Horned Owl – Watercolour – 9″x11″