Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by how a white object can get so many colors when the sun plays with it. When such an object is a white bird, it becomes a real treat. The delicate, slightly transparent feathers allow an artist to paint in a lot more different tints than he first thought. The challenge in this image was rendering the texture of the feathers with all the creamy and bluish tints while retaining the appearance of a white bird. (I listen mostly to classical music while working. When I see swans, I always think of Tchaikovsky's “Swan Lake.”) - CB