Back to Painting

After my recent blank period I finally got back to painting. The relatively minor health problems I have suffered are more or less over, although the house move is still not finalized. Nevertheless the other day I managed a drawing in my `studio'. As I am sorting my art stuff ready for moving it is somewhat disorganized but nevertheless I managed.

Drawing of Eurasian Magpie. A `Colorful Birds' Subject.

Today was the `unofficial'  weekly Thursday Summer session of  Avon Valley Artists. What is meant by this is that members still meet at St Mary's Church Hall, but there is no programme and everyone does their own thing. The number varies but is lower than during the official Autumn and Winter programmes. I decided to take part and so did five other members - a little below normal.

Eurasian Magpie 15" x 11" Gerstaeker No.3 200gsm not.

When I made the drawing I aimed for an accurate but not over detailed result. The bird is essentially black and white, like most Magpie species, but includes some nice turquoise  areas, which I exaggerated slightly. I used two brushes, mostly the Escoda 1214 Retractable size 8, less so a Rosemary retractable rigger. The bird is Ivory Black (Maimeri) and Turquoise (Lukas PB16) with some Prussian Blue (PB27). There are small touches of Raw Umber and diluted Cerulean, the latter for shadows in the white areas. The branches are alternate warm and cool, with Cerulean for the cool and Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Raw Sienna for the warm. A little Ivory black was added for the darker shadowed areas. I splashed Raw Sienna, Gold Ochre  (W & N PY43) and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (Daniel Smith PO48) onto the background, brushing out some of the splashes. Some over painting but kept to a minimum. I think that's it. I was quite pleased with the result. Painting is like many other interests in that a period of inactivity leads to rustiness. I should add the painting was done for the Facebook page `Paint Colorful Birds for Fun', which has proved very popular.  As I finished early (I always do) I commenced the next Colorful subject by completing the initial drawing. 

Northern Cardinal (North America).

I aim for a loose drawing and compare this with the guide photo as I go along. I do have to erase and redraw parts although I try and avoid too much erasing. This looks reasonably okay but I often make changes after further study.