For twenty minutes the artists watched these two delight themselves in their morning ablutions. Untroubled in the least by their audience, they preened and washed without moving away from the area. The artists were delighted, the ducks were delighted.
A recent highlight in my life was the painting plein air workshop I took last October in Pecos New Mexico. For almost a week we enjoyed beautiful fall weather in the mountains of New Mexico at the Benedictine monastery in Pecos.
I was one of the artists watching this adorable couple. They actually had an island of their own in the middle of the monastery pond which could only be accessed by crossing a small bridge with a locked gate, or by swimming. There were signs up around the grounds and buildings requesting that guests refrain from feeding them… Apparently, they were on a diet, having put on a bit too much weight due to the generosity of monastery guests!
My attempts at painting them at first were rather dismal failures, but as I continue to expand my skills, I decided to try them once again.