A remarque is a small original drawing or painting created by the artist’s hand in the white margin of a print or on some other form of reproduction of their art. These small original works of art can increase the value of a print dramatically over time.
Federal Duck Stamp Entry 2013: The Process
A few small preliminary sketches.
Many things go into the design and execution of a painting, especially when it's for the most prestigious wildlife art competition in the nation. First, I had to choose which one of the five eligible species I was going to paint: Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback, Gadwall, or Cinnamon Teal. Though most may not think so, there are a lot of things to consider when choosing a species. I decided to go with the mallard. This brought me to the next step in the process: finding quality reference, which is a difficult task since I hadn't had the chance to get too many reference photos with our newly acquired camera equipment. This meant that I had to rely on the work of other photographers, which can be difficult and expensive, but that year all went well. I ended up working from several photos that were provided to me by wildlife artists and photographers, Tim Taylor and our faithful mentor, Adam Grimm. Then came the designing process. This plays a crucial role in the finished piece, making it a complicated and often taxing step. The main thing that the artist must keep in mind while designing their entry is that the winning artwork will be reduced to the size of a duck stamp. This includes taking into account composition, typography, and originality, etc. All of these preliminary steps are essential to achieving a nice painting. Below are photos to give you an idea of what it all entails, and the resulting finished piece....