Wetlands Snowy Egret

MEDIUM: Digital Painting | STYLE: Painterly Realism | SIZE: 11 x 14 | ORIENTATION: Landscape | TOOLS: Procreate, 13″ iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro, Giclee Fine Art Archival paper and ink | AVAILABILITY: Prints available.

The Wetlands at Stony Brook, Long Island, are a haven for birds, fish, turtles, and more. During the summer, the town offers a “Wetlands Tour” to observe wildlife, and this bird was photographed from the tour boat on one of these tours. The painting was printed on Giclee Fine Art Archival paper and ink, framed, and hung on the living room wall next to the Great White Egret photographed the same day.

ARTIST’S PROCESS: Wetlands Snowy Egret was painted in Procreate on a 13″ iPad Pro using the Apple Pencil Pro. This technique replicates traditional painting’s depth and texture through layered digital brushwork. The process began with careful structural drawing, followed by multiple rounds of color blocking, value refinement, and detail work on feather texture and species characteristics to capture the bird’s appearance and temperament. Shadow and light were built up using multiple Procreate layers and specific brushes, and the background was taken from the bird’s environment in the original photograph.

CHALLENGE: This subject presented a unique opportunity — the bird was photographed just as it landed on a branch, and the pose offered a stunning view of the anatomy of the body and wings. Capturing this required close attention to the lighting across each section of the bird’s anatomy. Multiple layers of white, cream, grey, green, and blue were built up in delicate watercolor washes over the feathers to emphasize the muscle and bone structure beneath the white plumage.

SUBJECTS AND THEMES: Wildlife Art — Long Island Wildlife — Nature — Birding — Snowy Egret — Wetlands Wildlife — Bird Landing — Procreate Artwork — Painterly Realism