This painting was done on a 6×6 canvas panel, and is based on a photo I found on Pixabay. I’ve had this reference photo for seemingly forever, but it wasn’t as exciting to paint as I thought it would be. (I live near a creek with lots of reeds, where red-winged blackbirds hang out.)
Based on a photo on Pixabay.
I was drawn to this photo of a blue jay on a snowy branch over a year ago, and the 9×12 canvas has sat toned and drawn out waiting for me to paint it. That day was today.
The bird colors are Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, and Mars Black.
Image by Naturelady from Pixabay
This bird was painted on a 11×14 canvas which I toned with Blick Studio neutral gray — but I should have added at least one layer of gesso. (Cheap “pre-gessoed” canvases are less and less appealing to me.)
This is from another class on the Acrylic University website, originally shown to the public on YouTube for a brief period of time back in January 2022. The focus of the week’s classes was “Radiant Landscapes” and this class was about going big and bold with your brushstrokes to paint a chickadee.
There were 4 ways suggested to “go bold”: 1) limit yourself to 30 minutes painting (and that’s it, no going back later); 2) Limit yourself to a certain number of brushstrokes — say, 50, or 75; 3) use a large brush throughout; 4) paint with your non-dominant hand
I went with a larger brush than I typically use, and I had a lot of fun with this painting. It makes me happy to look at.
This painting of a bird came from a bonus class at Acrylic University. While I’ve drawn or sketched birds, I’ve never tried painting a bird so I decided to give it a shot, after watching the 25 minute video. This was done on a 6×6 panel with only the primaries, and white as my colors.
Using willow charcoal and some Derwent pastel pencils.
Using vine charcoal.
I took the photo of this raven years ago when visiting Yellowstone National Park.
This is one I want to try doing in soft pastels, to show all the silvers and purplish-blues in his black feathers. Therefore, I kept this study quite sketchy.
The reference photo is below.
BetterLateThanNeverArt 