Audubon

Audubon was one of the most famous artists/scientists in American
history. He did pictures of the many and various species of birds on
the American continent in the early 1800's. He explored the natural
history of much of the central and eastern United States. Audubon
painted almost 500 species of the 700 or so regularly occurring North
American birds.

Audubon drew birds from life whenever possible. He did, indeed, shoot
specimens that he wired and propped into life-like positions as models
for his paintings. He said that even if it took up to fourteen hours,
he would try to finish the picture in one setting. He put the birds
in their natural habitat in many and varied positions. He was educated
in Paris, where he took lessons from the French painter Jacques-Louis
David who pictured the French Revolution in art. In 1803 his father
obtained a false passport for him to leave France and travel to the
United States to avoid the Napoleonic Wars.

He met and became engaged to his neighbor Lucy Bakewell, whom he
married in 1808. According to Three Hundred Years of American
Painting by Elliot, Audubon discovered his technique by accident. He
did a painting of his young wife in watercolor, wasn't pleased with
it, and then finished it using pastels. He loved the mixed media
composition. Have you ever felt like you didn't like your picture?
Try something creative to fix it just like Audubon did.

In 1803, he began the study of natural history by conducting the first
known bird-banding on the continent; he tied yarn to the legs of
Eastern Phoebes and determined that they returned to the same nesting
spots year after year. He also began drawing and painting birds.

He gave the birds not only their natural names, but also gave them the
Linnaean (Latin) name of classification. He even gave the scientific
name of the plants and flowers he included with the birds. He is
noted for his famous book Birds of America. Audubon had to go to
Europe and do bird calls in elegant drawing rooms of kings and queens
to get the money that he needed to publish his book. Notice in the
picture from this website the composition of the birds and the
placement of the corn. Audubon is a master at doing balanced designs
with interesting and exciting compositions.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:John_James_Audubon_001.jpg

In later years he claimed to have hunted in the Appalachians with Daniel Boone.

He is considered perhaps the greatest bird artist who ever lived, and
gave Americans a scientific and historical record of the birds in
early America.

Your browser may not support display of this image. When my son
Jonathan went to Europe, he was able to hold a hawk. Hawking was a
sport of the Middle Ages. Go to this
website: http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/full.asp?objectID=33310&image=1

At this website, you can see Audubon's "Bald
Eagle." http://www.ncmoa.org/collections/highlights/american/before1850/eagle_lrg.shtml

Drawings: