Northern Cardinal

This is the completed painting of the drawing shown at the end of the previous post. On studying the drawing I realised the tail was not quite right so changed the contours and erased the old line.

Northern Cardinal 15" x 11" Gerstaeker No.3 200gsm not

This was another in the `Paint Colorful Birds For Fun" Facebook page. It was done quite quickly and with a limited number of colours. The bird is mainly Cadmium Red Pale (Rowney PR108) and the surrounding green Hookers Green, which I splashed on. before painting.  I drew on a number of very fine lines of Pebeo Drawing Gum applied with a ruling pen. The eyes and chin are Ivory Black (Maimeri) and the beak mainly Indian Yellow (Rowney PY153). Pigment PY153 is becoming unavailable so I'll have to find an equivalent.  The tree trunk he is perched on is a mixture of Raw and Burnt Umber, some Cerulean and Quinacridone Burnt Orange. Also some darks from Ultramarine and Burnt Umber.

Gerstaeker No.3 is a cheap cellulose paper, exclusively from Great Art, which comes in a pad of 65 sheets, and the only brushes used were the Isabey 6 retractable and the Escoda 1214 No.8.

Don't think I'm only concentrating on birds from now on. This is just to get me into the painting groove again. I think I shall attempt a portrait or two very soon and then other subjects. My pending house move will interrupt things when it finally happens, possibly in around a months time.