being right is sometimes wrong

While the owl itself dries I thought the background should get some attention. I was quite pleased with the effect I was getting, but when I stood back, it suddenly struck me that my approach to the composition is a bit problematic. People who saw the owl at Snettisham might not even notice the problem- but if you weren't there watching this bird- with the big seawall looming up beyond it- you might look at this painting and wonder if perspective was just some minor detail I'd ignored completely. My vaguely abstracted motif only works as long as you know the reality it's based on.

I decided to leave it for a while and see if the background problem receded in my mind, so I picked up a smaller canvas and started another picture in which the background wouldn't be such an issue.

This time, I chose to paint the owl looking a bit more straight on- and immediately ran into another problem.

Owl eyes are captivating- and complex. The way they are set amid the voluminous facial disc presents a really annoying optical illusion. Look at any photo of an owl, and if the head is not directly facing you, the far eye will look wrong. Because the pupil is behind a thick lens, and the feathers around the bill obscure the inner part of the eye, you get an unfortunate cross-eyed look. 

I tried not to let this effect bother me- it's anatomically right, so I have to paint it like that. I showed it to Dunc to see if he noticed the effect too. Unfortunately, he did.

Sometimes you have to cheat reality. There was only one thing for it. I had to repaint the eyes wrongly, to make them look right.