Paint a Bird
Our subject for
this exercise is this Whistling Kite.
All you will need for this exercise are two tubes of
paint and two brushes plus a sheet of watercolor
paper and a pencil
(click on the
image to print out a larger version)
The first
step is to loosely draw the basic shapes. The idea is not
to carefully draw every detail then fill it in, but to
get a rough guideline for the major shapes. Don't worry
about accurate details, but concentrate on accurate
proportions.
(HB lead pencil)
Once you
are satisfied with your drawing, a very pale wash of
Burnt Sienna mixed with a tiny amount of Indigo can be
splashed over the body. Into this damp wash place a
little Burnt Sienna and a grey mixture to slightly model
the form. A darker grey forms the beak - a little lighter
on top.
(1" Flat brush) Finer detailed areas
such as the beak may at first seem awkward to paint with
the 1" brush but with practice you can do amazing
things with the corner of one of these
( greys in
this painting are mixed from the two colours)
Some more
detail can be added with a warm grey - shadows under, and
at the back of the head and the suggestion of feathers on
the wing. Add the eye with the liner brush and a dark
mixture of the two colours. Dont forget to leave a couple
of small white patches for reflections.
(1" Flat brush
and liner brush)
Further
modelling with Burnt Sienna and a warm grey give the bird
a nice solid form. Feather textures add interest to the
wing. The liner brush can be used to suggest feathers
around the beak eye and head. Splashing some warm grey
below the chest area makes a nice random transition from
white paper to the body of the bird.
(1" Flat brush
and liner brush)
The final
step is to add the background. Because the bird is very
warm a cool Indigo background will give more impact.
Although the background looks simple and accidental, a
fair amount of thought must go into arranging tonal
contrast in the right places.
In order to draw attention to the area around the eye and
beak, the darkest part of the background is placed behind
the lightest part of the head. Below the dark beak and
behind the shadow on the back of the neck the background
is much lighter. Putting a slight diagonal thrust /
through the background also helps draw attention to the
head and balance the opposing diagonal of the bird \.
(1" Flat brush) softening the edges on
this background wash is made much easier when you place
an old towel under your work. It allows you to quickly
and simply adjust the amount of water in your brush.
The first
step is to loosely draw the basic shapes. The idea is not
to carefully draw every detail then fill it in, but to
get a rough guideline for the major shapes. Don't worry
about accurate details, but concentrate on accurate
proportions.
Once you
are satisfied with your drawing, a very pale wash of
Burnt Sienna mixed with a tiny amount of Indigo can be
splashed over the body. Into this damp wash place a
little Burnt Sienna and a grey mixture to slightly model
the form. A darker grey forms the beak - a little lighter
on top.
Some more
detail can be added with a warm grey - shadows under, and
at the back of the head and the suggestion of feathers on
the wing. Add the eye with the liner brush and a dark
mixture of the two colours. Dont forget to leave a couple
of small white patches for reflections.
Further
modelling with Burnt Sienna and a warm grey give the bird
a nice solid form. Feather textures add interest to the
wing. The liner brush can be used to suggest feathers
around the beak eye and head. Splashing some warm grey
below the chest area makes a nice random transition from
white paper to the body of the bird.
The final
step is to add the background. Because the bird is very
warm a cool Indigo background will give more impact.
Although the background looks simple and accidental, a
fair amount of thought must go into arranging tonal
contrast in the right places.