Blue Bird Winter Card

 Blue Bird Winter Card

I am posting this a little early because I know some people can't make it to class:

Here is the project for Nov. 20:

The reference for this is from Carol Locey, a member of the class with photographic talents.

She agreed to let me teach from this reference. Thanks, Carol! She used AI to substitute the branch for pine and put snow in the background. 

Step 1: Draw and ink the blue bird. I drew an oval around it to give it some emphasis. (But you don't need to do that)

TIP: I drew the oval in watercolor pencil so the color would just dissolve into the background.

You can position the oval vertically or horizontally, to give the picture a different effect.

I made sketches in different sizes, so choose small if you want a card size, large for a 9 x 12.

Make sure you add the details you want to include in your drawing. For example,  Carol wants to put a Santa hat on hers!

Step 2: Spatter some masking fluid onto the background for snow.  You can also mask out a few areas where pine needles will show through the snow. Lightly paint the breast with a gray (I make mine from burnt sienna and French ultramarine) watered down, with some ochre or raw sienna added to the bottom. Add some popcorn salt to the bottom

When dry add a layer of blue to the head and a layer of orange to the body. While the orange was still damp, I dropped darker orange (quin burnt orange) into that area to give it dimension. (the blue can be cerulean or Pthalo or manganese)

Make a gray for the background and paint the background with that gray. While wet (but not puddly), drop in table salt to help create snow effects. Don't go too heavy on the salt. You might try using larger salt for the clumps of snow area around the branch, but you can always add a little snow later. 

Tip: Your background color needs to be a value dark enough to show up the salt, but light enough not to overpower the bird. I made my gray with French ultramarine and Burnt sienna so that I could warm it up with some burnt sienna. But you can choose the color for your background.

I added some large clumps of snow with bleed proof white and spattered it onto the background. When it all dried, I removed masking, darkened the oval with blue, and added some pine needles in the snow. 

I thought there were just a few places I wanted to shadow the large clumps of snow, so added some shadow to the snow on the branches.

If you are doing this as a card, you can either use a 5 x 10 piece of paper and draw the picture on the RIGHT side of paper, so you can fold it up and have an instant card. Or you can just do it on a 5 x 7 piece of paper and mount it with double sided tape to card stock.  When doing it as a card, I usually tape it down to a small board to make a border and keep the edges clean. 

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Finishing the Wren

Completing the wren pen and wash

Here are a few tips for finishing this bird. 

First,  I completed the inking. I used a size .005 for the fine feather detail, always following the reference to see the direction of the feathers. I didn't ink much on the belly...I was letting the watercolor and salt give the impression of those tiny soft feathers.

In the inking process, I wanted to be sure the branch the bird sits on to appear to be heavy enough to hold the weight of the bird. I inked some texture into the branch, especially on the bottom of that branch. The branch behind the bird I left with less detail, as I wanted it to appear more distant.

The eye: be sure your eye looks round. We tend to try to give animals human eyes, but birds are more round. In this reference you'll notice 3 things: there is some white on the left edge of the eye, but that is FEATHERS, not eyeball; you need to include the dark round on the outside of the eyeball, which is its eyelids, but on birds it appears like a round circle, and it needs to be included; there is a tiny part on the right of the eye that points outward, but keep it tiny. I doesn't take the shape of a human eye.

Also, give the eye a tiny white light point. You can add it in with white gouache, bleed proof white, or scratch it out with a razor blade.

BACKGROUND

If you are not happy with your background, change it to what you like. You can make a bokeh effect by using a round stencil and removing paint, or by painting in some circles with watered down gouache. You can re-wet the surface and add more color (I added some pthalo blue to mine)

The Body: Many times we are not happy with a picture, and can't quite figure out why. The first solution I look at is, "Did I lose my whites?" Second question I ask is, "Are my values right? Are they showing what I want to be important?"  Third question is, "Do I have both hard and soft edges?" On this project, it's easy to lose the whiteness on the belly that makes it come forward and appear soft. Sometimes, just lifting some of the paint where the belly is roundest helps a lot.

Here are student interpretations of this project. I feel like a proud mama!

Sarah darkened the bottom branch, and even created a shadow underneath the branch. 

Meg also kept it light and airy. It looks great!

Francis also didn't like her background, so added a bokeh effect. She began lifting some color from around the bird to get more glow back. Not finished yet, but looks good so far. And it's OK to leave the branch light, as long as it doesn't look like you forgot it. 

Carol L. made a beautiful background adding some blues, and still maintained the glow I was hoping for. She darkened the stem underneath so it really looks like it can hold the weight.

Bev kept it light and airy, and it looks beautiful. Very nice pen work, using it on the belly a bit to create some form to the belly area.

Vicky wasn't happy with her background, so she created a lovely bokeh effect. It almost looks like it's raining.  This was a case where lifting some of the color off the belly made it look softer.

Pam M used purple in the background. Notice how she brought some of the purple from the top into the rest of the painting to unify it. And kept the background branch in the background with less detail and softer edges.

Carol S. did a beautiful job creating a glow around the wren. Her pen work is really good too.

Barb B--free-handed her bird, and used a pale cool background, which shows up the bird nicely without overpowering the picture. She limited the pen strokes to the head and wings, and the effect is soft.

I didn't get everyone's pics, (I was late pulling out the camera), 

but thanks to those who let me post theirs. You all should pat yourselves on the back on this one.

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!

Finishing the Halloween House

Making a spooky atmosphere

This week we continued the Halloween themed house. Those who missed last week, I showed the target method of paining a gradual spiral around the moon in the last blog. Also from last week, I retaught how to create distant looking trees.

This week I brought stencils and ideas for finishing the house. I was cracking up at the ideas people came up with. So here's show and tell ideas for finishing the Haunted House. (I am missing a few and will add them as soon as I get them. Sorry)

Judy...just getting started, added a fence and a road

Kathy J..kept it loose and colorful, but still evoking that spooky atmosphere

Meg...Added tree, bats, and a fence with a cat

Carol Schell..found inspiration for the fence in a catalog

Vicki...using purple and yellow complementary colors

Sarah

Bev.. "Jut experimenting..." she says. I love how she's handled her house and background, then added some jack-o-lanterns for fun

Sylvia...used a real building for the reference

Francis?

  Pam has a ghost in a graveyard

Lisa P's

Not finished, but well on its way

Carol L... don't miss the owl

FROM OUR FIRST PROJECT

Judy--love the cat!

Sylvia--So detailed!

Shirley--looks more violet in person. Love it

Cathy J's....love the changes in composition to

make it more dynamic

Just some tips from today

STENCILING WITH WATERCOLOR

I use an INK BLENDING BRUSH for stenciling.  They are really inexpensive. It has many fibers. You make a thick mix of paint...if the paint is too wet, it will soak underneath the stencil. Let the brush absorb the paint, dab it off if it's too wet. Then brush over the stencil that you want. Using this method, you can stencil over any paper surface, including printer paper, card stock, etc. 

By the way, I learned about stenciling from Jackie Hernandez. 

7 minutes--loved it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hIktimZczo

To use a stencil to remove paint, use a damp (not wet) sponge. Put your stencil where you want it, then remove paint over the stencil with the sponge. Good for ghost or making light forms over a dark paint.

FIGURING OUT WATER TO PAINT RATIO

You often hear artist talk about tea/coffee/milk/and cream thicknesses for paint. This past week I saw an artist, Dan Mondloch, that gives an optional way of thinking about it....How runny is your paint?

So, when thinking about light value paint, it is watered down and runny. You will see through it to the white of your palette, and if you tip it, it easily runs down the palette.

For more medium values, medium thickness of paint, you'll have less water. The paint will run around a little, but not like for waterier paint. Also, you can see less of the white of your palette.

For thicker, dark value paints, you will not see the white of your palette. And the paint doesn't move when you tip the palette a bit. This is the thickness you need if you are going to stencil.

A Halloween Spooky House--More Pen and Wash

A Spooky Halloween House--Have it Your Way!

This lesson is designed to teach several things: 

1. Atmosphere (mist, diffused light, etc.)

2. The "target" method

3. More tips on pen and wash

4. Making the composition your own

Here is the reference photo from Facebook Photo References for Artists. The photographer is William Powell.

Begin with a sketch of the house (I added the front porch and steps) and lightly ink the outline.

The house should be either on the right or left, not center for the effect I'm after. You can draw your own house or another you find interesting. 

I am going to show two ways of creating a harvest moon effect.

 The first way is to draw a circle the size and placement for your moon. You can put it behind the house or to the right or left. Paint in some yellow and drop in oranges. Let it dry.

Then wet your paper with a large brush. Paint in loosely some yellow/orange in the windows.

Doesn't matter if it bleeds onto the house. Start painting in circles around the moon, beginning with orange. As you move away from the moon, add blue to your oranges, and let it blend wet in wet. (I used French ultramarine, but you can use indigo or any dark blue.) As you get to the outer edges of the paper you will be painting dark grays, over the house and background. ((try to avoid the windows)

 This video is sort of what I mean:

Liesl's Artistic Studio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMV0VfHRnc

Method #2

Get some gum Arabic and paint it over your moon and dry it.  Then start with orange and paint a circle around it, adding blue to the orange as you go around, making a "target" effect. Then remove the gum Arabic with a wet brush, smoothing the edges next to the color, and drop in yellow/orange/brown to create a harvest moon. 

Before the paint dries completely, drop blues and oranges into the drying paint where you want some misty distant trees (like on the right). You can just drop in water too, until you get the effect you want.

With a thin brush, draw in some background branches (like behind the house) while the paint is still damp, but lost its shine. You can also score in some branches with a cut credit card or the wooden point of a brush.

When the painting is dry, do some pen and ink details on the house. 

Here I used some bat stencils over and around the moon. I painted in a dark tree on the right. 

I used penned in some squiggly lines to create the branches in ink. 

Finish inking. Add ink to the house or other areas where you want to add some details.

Here are some fun Halloween YouTube's to try:

Paul Clark Spooky Halloween pic (you can download a pattern from his website)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCPF43vCbLM

Emma LeFebvre does a cute ghost in a spooky woods

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYSwSSrqFSY&t=622s

Some pictures from last week's project. Hopefully I got the names matched up with the pictures.

Sarah added jack-o-lantern faces and spider web stencils in the background

Barb B added a loose warm background

                                            Bev

Sylvia added some interesting details

Jackie added a loose background

Vicki used different colors of ink

Pam anchored the pumpkins with a dark table underneath

Carol Schell

Meg

Francis