Butterflies & Birds

This was the subject at last Thursdays AVA session,. There were fifteen members present, much better than last week but below the average of what used to be the norm. We could do with an influx of new members, perhaps five or six.

Jo McKenna

Jan Weeks

Peter Ward

An interesting subject, one that we haven't tackled before. 

Latest Paintings.

Despite all the background noise and current distractions I have managed to do some painting recently, although rustiness is evident. I read somewhere that in order to maintain your current standard you need to paint at least three times a week, and in order to improve more than that. Having done very little painting since late May I know the feeling.

A while ago my friend John Softly sent me some photos of boat scenes at Staithes in North Yorkshire. John has become friendly with the artist Robert Brindley who supplied them. I hope Robert won't mind me using them as guide photos and acknowledge him as the source.

The Red Boat 18" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 300gsm Not

What attracted me was the red boat. It was a very misty scene and the background was only hinted at. Apart from the red - a mixture of Cadmium Red Pale and Translucent Orange (Schminke PO71),with Cerulean on the other boats, most of the background has various greys, quite a bit puddle colour, the bane of my guru Charles Reid. Raw Sienna and Raw Umber also feature. The greys primarily from Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. It is on the crude side but here I am following my guru who often says on his workshops `be cruder', aimed at preventing fussy over detailed paintings.

This one is the latest bird painting for `Paint Colorful Birds for Fun' on Facebook.

The Puerto Rican Spindalis. 16" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 300 gsm Not.

As you can see a colourful subject. Colours used were Translucent Orange (Schminke PO71), Gold Ochre (W & N PY43), Cerulean, Ivory Black and ? 

I have also started on another Indian portrait. Actually I did one at Thursdays Avon Valley Artists session but it was a bit of a disaster. It was of an Amerindian called Chief Washington. I'm sure I've read about him in one of my books but a search on Google came up with nothing. I used hotpress paper as an experiment. I really was much too careless, just wanting to get back to painting, and I shall have another shot at him soon taking much more care - and using cold press paper! The previous portrait I did was in May at Stow so this emphasized the need to keep ones hand in. 

The Eagle `Corrected' plus Work-in-Progress.

I have tweaked the eagle painting, not a great deal but specifically three small areas suggested  by Yvonne, Jan and Mick. I darkened the branch, removing as much of the green as I could. There is still a little but it is much lighter, and erased some of the pencil marks on the tail. That was all as resisting over painting and too much fiddling is something  I have to constantly be on guard against.  

18" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140lb (300gsm) Not

Bullfinch - Work in Progress

Another bird - not sure what species -Work in Progress.

Here are two other bird paintings I'm working on. I do like birds and animals and will certainly be painting  a number from now on - but I'm not intent on becoming just a wildlife artist. For those who are not keen on such subjects I will be also painting portraits, still lifes and flowers. Landscapes and buildings I'm not so enthused about although I will force myself to tackle a few and cover these subjects with other posts. There will continue to be a goodly number - approximately half - of other matters related to watercolour as I'm sure these are of more interest to many than my paintings. 

Avon Valley Artists Thursday 1 March 2012

This week the subject was `In the Garden'. to be interpreted as you will although keeping to the basic theme.

My source Photo

 In the Garden - Fabriano Artistico Extra White 14" x 20" Not

Although only small my garden swarms with birds. I have four feeding stations plus a bird bath and a small pond, a four star hotel for the birds! The most numerous visitors are goldfinches. In the painting I've added greenfinches, also regulars, and a long tailed tit, an occasional visitor usually in numbers. I could have put in many other species.

My basic painting was built around two bird feeders with the two goldfinches at the front left the  main focal points. I painted them and the bird feeder together with an impression of the surrounding foliage in one passage. I then moved to the right completing the second feeder and another goldfinch linking them together with the  greenfinches at the top right. The branches at the top of the painting were put in last as was the long tailed tit. I tried to link everything to avoid any one part looking isolated.

Colours used for the goldfinches were Indigo (Daniel Smith PB60/Pbk6) for the blacks , Hansa Yellow Medium (Daniel Smith PY97) and Indian Yellow (Rowney PY153) plus diluted Raw Umber. The Red is Quinacridone Rose (Graham PV19). Raw Sienna was used to simulate the seeds in the feeders. I used a lot of Hookers Green (Graham) in various dilutions and sometimes altered with yellow. Some Gold Ochre is in there somewhere (Winsor & Newton PY43). Burnt Sienna was added in various places to add warmth. The Greenfinches are a mixture of green and yellow in various dilutions. The greys are mainly Indigo with some Burnt Sienna.

Brushes were my Da Vinci Artissimo 44 Size 2 Kolinsky mop, a size 6 Da Vinci Maestro 10 and the Isabey retractable size 6. Comments welcome.