Painting Designs

Well I've been trying out some different types of compositions for the bird paintings I'd like to start. I think this blue jay design is pretty close to what I was going for, so I'll be proceeding with that first--I'll post the final linework when I put it on the canvas--of course that work will be much more sensitively drawn. I was thinking 18x24 for them, or at least that's the size of one of the canvases I prepared. I'm still not sure about how I want the background to be, though. I was hoping to make it not too complicated, possibly in an atmospheric focus with snow coming down.

I've also been thinking about a chickadee piece featuring some of the prairie plants I've been collecting. I threw together a rough idea for that one--something done very close-in and focused on the plants and birds. Also with snow, I hope, although the color palette I have in mind for this one is considerably more muted than with the jays. I have a 12x16 canvas that I think would be well suited for this one.