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.