Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Painting a Chicken from Life

(Link to YouTube)
When I sit down to paint this magnificent little rooster, I'm hoping for a pose that's a little bit unusual, not just the standard profile. Luckily the bird cooperates by striking a napping pose with his beak tucked backward.

It only lasts a couple of minutes, but it's enough time for me to quickly sketch it in. The rest I reconstruct while observing him in other poses. I use just three colors of gouache: Perylene maroon, viridian, and permanent yellow (Arylide), plus white.
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Full length video tutorials: Gouache in the Wild and Watercolor in the Wild

3 comments:

Steve said...

That's a magnificent little painting. I need to get some perylene maroon. Your right forearm seemed to bear the admittance pass for that day at the fair; interesting shape.

Patricia Wafer said...

Really nice to watch you do that. Brilliant how you let the shape of the brush shape the feathers. Letting the gear work for me is what I need to do more of. Also a great lesson in what can be done with a limited palette. I like that maroon, too! (And as always, Gracias por el mono!)

Stephanie said...

WATER SOLUBLE PENCILS!

This is a brilliant answer to the issue of how to get my light sketching before painting to blend in better with the paint layer. So often the graphite shines through the thinner layers of paint.