These birds were clearer before the painting was backed (glued onto another piece of rice paper for support). The colors bled, especially the reds, an indication that there is too heavy a load of pigment for the thinness of this particulary rice paper. It takes a lot of practice to get it just right; I like to try different kinds of rice papers, but errors do occur during the process of experimenting. In any case, you would not see these birds together in the wild. The cardinal is not found on the west coast where the Steller's jay lives.
