Nandan Nair

Peacock is India’s National Bird and my second painting of an animal after the Cobra and by far, one of the hardest paintings that I have done. It took me more than 2 months to finish this majestic bird. I had to overcome my laziness more than any other technical challenge to complete this work. Now you know why it took so long :-). But the good news is – I did it… yaaay…

One evening, me and my family were discussing about how interesting peacocks were and how challenging it would be for any artist to paint one. Then it hit me – that this was the next painting I would do. Google images provided many pictures of peacocks and that helped as a foundation for my painting.

The peacock has many rows of feathers and each one is exactly the same. This makes it even harder because everything must look identical. When you look at it from a distance, their colors seem to blend that when you see a feather at a close-up. If you too have experienced this, you must feel better because you are not seeing things. I chose to make one perfect feather and then repeat it though I had to ensure that the sizes of the feathers were proportional. It was also important to get the colors right. I did choose the darker color.

The body of the peacock was simpler than the feathers mainly because it was different shades of blue. So, I first made it a layer of blue that was dark enough to be seen, but light enough so that the head was highlighted. Then I made an outline with darker shade of blue to make it prominent. I hope you enjoy this painting. You can see the pictures on my Flickr Album.

Some Fast Facts about Peacocks:
Type: Bird
Diet: Omnivore
Average life span in the wild: 20 years
Size: Body, 35 to 50 in (90 to 130 cm); Tail, 5 ft (1.5 m)
Weight: 8.75 to 13 lbs (4 to 6 kg)
Group name: Party
Did you know? A male peafowl is one of the largest flying birds when the combined length of its train and its large wingspan are considered.