Wren: Pen and Wash with hombre background

 WREN WITH HOMBRE BACKGROUND

Here is the photo reference from Alicia Beasley from Facebook References for Artists website.

First I made the basic pen work in brown ink with a dip pen and brown India Ink. Not too much detail at first.

Then I painted the fuzzy breast of the wren. I used raw sienna mixed with some burnt sienna, wet into wet. I concentrated darker color around the edges of the breast to make it feel rounder and fuller. While it was still shiny, but no puddles, I dropped a tiny bit of popcorn salt. (You want to hold it about 12 inches above the paint and sprinkle. Too much salt or too much water and it will be nearly impossible to remove the salt when it dries.)

Notice the fuzzy effect the popcorn salt gives.

After the salt has reacted as much as you want it to, you can dry with a hair dryer and brush off all the excess salt.

The Background

I wanted to give the background a sort of hombre effect, with a glow around the bird and darker as it reaches the edges. First I wet a section. The branches give me a natural stopping place. So I propped the page at an angle (so the paint will run). Starting at the outer edges I dropped in yellow paint. On top of that I added some raw sienna and let that drip in. The last color is quinacridone burnt orange. (you can make a similar color with burnt sienna and a bit of red) All of this was wet on wet.

Some people wanted it even darker. You can add indigo or French ultramarine to the last layer.

The background is wet but not puddly, just enough to let the colors bleed together.

When one section was dry enough to stop running, I turned the paper upside down and did the bottom the same way.

At this point, you can ink more or you can begin painting. When doing a bird's feather, I like to use a small pointed brush, and paint short strokes that follow the direction that the feathers are growing.

I'll put down a very light layer, let it dry, then put down one or two successive layers, each with short strokes, and each layer a little darker than the previous. 

Colors I'm using on the bird are raw sienna with a little purple (to make it less yellow) for the light areas; burnt sienna, burnt umber, and French ultramarine for the darker areas. 

OF course, this isn't the only way to do it. You can just wash in color, then when dry, go back over it with a layer of small strokes to indicate feathers. The main thing is to keep strokes going in the same direction as the feathers, and you'll have to pay attention to the reference for that. 

Next week we'll finish the bird's feathers and make adjustments with inking or paint as needed.

Below is Judy's finished haunted house. This project really was fun!