Federal Duck Stamp Entry by Darren Maurer

7" x 10"

I wasn't going to paint one of these this year. I wasn't motivated or inspired to design and paint a duck stamp for some reason. Last Thursday night my oldest daughter asked why I wasn't working on a stamp design and I didn't have an answer for her. As I sat in my studio afterwards I thought to myself, "Why aren't you painting an entry into this year's contest?" I didn't have an answer. The deadline was August 15th and I probably still had time to get something finished. I had great reference available and somehow reached down deep and became more focused on creating a winning design than ever before. I started working on this piece last Thursday night and finished it late today. After many hours of work and not a lot of sleep since then I feel like this is one of my better designs. I kept everything very simple and bright and focused on the bird. I am happy with it. It will up to the judges now. I'll FedEx this off to Washington, DC later on this week and keep my fingers crossed.