Wood Duck

It’s spring! And that means duck lovers’ thoughts turn to wood ducks! Wood ducks and spring are synonymous. I think this species is so striking, both in shape and color, which was my inspiration. It’s a perfect decoy for spring duck carving.
I developed this pattern for a Road Scholar class while doing research on Delaware River decoys. The raised wings of the Delaware decoys seemed perfect for a wood duck. I needed to spice up the painting a bit, so I incorporated Crisfield paint colors and patterns—an instant fusion of Delaware and Maryland for shape and color. This is a fun little project, easily carved and painted. With the painting, just make sure you mute the bright colors by washing or glazing. You can accomplish this with an earth color, such as raw umber or burnt umber, to tone down the colors.