Audra’s Eagle/How To Paint Whites

Welcome back to class!

Recently, I had a class with Audra and spoke to her about creating the illusion of white with watercolor.

In this medium, you always paint your palest colors first. And then build your color intensities as you go. Here I had Audra mix up some pale blues and browns (cerelian blue mixed with sepia brown and burnt sienna) to create a mineralized grey shade to place in the feathers of her new eagle composition. (We will talk more about mineralized paint palettes in tomorrow’s class with Vikki.)

Audra painting eagle tail feathers.

You can see in the photograph below how she has patiently wet each white feather and then placed a small amount of pigment in each space.

Before each wash you must completely wet the space you wish to shade.

Audra drew three different sketches of eagles before she settled on this one as her favorite. Doing multiple thumbnail sketches, is something that I always suggest because each one gets better with practice.

Cerelian blue is the palest mineral blue shade. When mixed with brown, this color creates a wonderful texture for whites.

After the whites were completed, we moved to the pale yellows (naples yellow) and gold (raw sienna) to create the eagle’s eye, beak and talons.

Using the headset for better details is an artist's secret advantage.

Several people have asked about what kind of headset this is. It is a jeweler’s tool.

This is how the eagle's eye looks when magnified using a jeweler's headset.

Below you will see Audra with her work for the evening. She was only able to complete this much of her painting in two hours. This helps you understand how much patience is required to paint a detailed watercolor.

Audra and the eagle.

I always like to share a little of my world with you. Here I am with my friend Sheila Goodwin and our horses – Django and Phoenix on the trails near my house on Chuckanut Mountain. If you remember, Sheila’s horse was the inspiration for Audra’s Christmas Pony.

Django and Phoenix.

I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.

Best wishes,

 

Jod

~ by jodybergsma on October 29, 2008.