Art by Barry Kent MacKay
An All-Creatures.org
Art and Photo Presentation

(Artwork - 088)
Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

This is my first painting of the new year, although I did some of the work on it last year.
 
Bald Eagles are found throughout a much of North America, from Alaska to Newfoundland and south into northern Mexico.  They are somewhat migratory, but are often found in fairly cold winter conditions.
 
They are magnificent birds, and this painting is approximately life size.  To me they always seem to have a slightly haughty look, but also can look both fierce and just slightly worried, at the same time.  This expression owes a lot to the small, bony project that thrusts out over the front part of the eye.  It is more or less found in all birds of prey, and gives many species a very fierce look, although it probably functions mainly to shade the pupil of the eye.   
 
They are, like the Common Loon, one of the most frequently painted of all North American bird species and are usually shown magnificently against a plain background, or alternatively, against a dramatic backdrop of mountains and forests or great cloudscapes.  Trying to do something different, I chose to place them in Labrador, against the backdrop of a stream I sketched and photographed there many years ago.  Of course I took liberties, making much of it imaginary, but I hope it evokes a feeling of wilderness, and cold, glacial water streaming down from the interior highlands amongst a jumble of rocks.
 
The Bald Eagle is the national emblem of the United States, and stylized drawings and sculptures of it adorn many federal buildings and documents.  
 
Diet is often carrion, especially fish, but they are very capable predators, able to take down prey up to the size of swans or geese.
 
The painting is done in acrylics, on compressed hardboard (Masonite).

Previous | Art by Barry Kent MacKay | Next