# Snipe Decoy

**Lawrence Flynn** (American, 1900–1973)  
1941  
watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard  
overall: 53.6 x 34 cm (21 1/8 x 13 3/8 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1943.8.9624. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.21720.html).

## About this work

Lawrence Flynn painted this in 1941, aged 41. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

The image shows a painted decoy of a bird mounted on a wooden stake. The decoy has intricate details with spots of yellow and green on top of a dark body. The colors are naturalistic with brown, black, yellow, white, and beige. In the lower left section of the image, there are two line drawings of a bird.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Lawrence Flynn](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/lawrence-flynn)

American, 1900–1973

## Facts

- Type: Drawing
- The artist was 41
- Real size: about 21 × 13 in (54 × 34 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 20th century
- Movement: [American folk and design](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/american-folk-design)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1416.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1416/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/snipe-decoy-nga-21720).