This painting is a large acrylic, 16" x 40" on gallery-wrapped canvas. I got so much positive feedback from my robin on a wire painting that I decided to do another bird painting.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmPbQojBz9Nzbc4nRuzCD3V9JzaSxupTdDDy0JP7-qY1uErD3Oi2nOf9RLZRsmbRuW5FkvQ4XDMcprDJr6QMWyYc3L0racMcRdnb_AmRThzIzJ9fUfMNkjHbd_0dCA3IaHgxiSe9puIz7/s320/IMG_8655.jpg)
Here is a close-up of the cardinal. We have quite a few cardinals that visit our 298798 bird feeders that Jerry obsesses over.
I will have to paint a female cardinal sometime as well. They are quite spectacular. Just like my desert, the female cardinals have a subdued but no less impressive beauty. Instead of smacking you in the face with their attractiveness, they lure you in and make you work a bit harder to fully appreciate their delicate beauty. The female cardinal does not have the bright red body plumage of her male counterpart, but she shares the red/orange beak and a faint hint of red in her feathers. She stands proud and lovely without stealing the show.
I know a lot of female humans like that. Maybe I'll paint them, too.