Grackles — Giclée on Paper Insects and Butterflies Glen believed the background was

Glen believed the background was as important as the subject — that an animal pulled from its habitat and placed against a neutral wash was always slightly false

the pink petals precisely veined

This is the unenhanced version of the subject — the original watercolour study without the luminous pastel background of the Enhanced edition

luminous watercolour washes for the atmospheric background and tighter

the petals' translucency suggested through layered coloured pencil without losing their weight

Grackles — Giclée on Paper Insects and Butterflies Glen believed the background wasTwo Common Grackles in a tropical tree one high on a branch singing, long tail fanned, the other hanging below among the broad leaves. The graphite study is from 1985, and the setting plumeria flowers at left, large tropical foliage suggests an observation made on one of Glen's working trips outside Canada. The rendering is exact: the grackle's iridescent plumage is suggested even in graphite through the careful modulation of tone. Drawing was the