Saturday 7 December 2013

A Little Bit of Scandinavia

I am back in the business!! The first painting I have done in
an entire year has been completed. This time, instead of 
having a local subject, I decided to paint a Scandinavian bird:
the Bohemian Waxwing, on a twig of Eurasian Rowan.






















The waxwing has the most magnificent soft and nearly
un-feather like plumage, coloured by muted greys and orange.
The bird is actually named after the red waxy protruding 
feather shafts on each wing. This is my painting set up - no 
nonsense, just paint, brushes, a canvas and a palette (usually 
half of a styrofoam box that used to contain chicken rice).














Here are some progress shots. I often do the plant or perch the first.
Then I'll tackle the bird. The snow was done more than a week later 
when everything underneath is completely dry.














Before any of that went onto the canvas, I painted a background
in acrylics with a sponge roller. I also did a rough painting in 
Photoshop to set a blueprint of how the composition and colours 
would turn out in the actual artwork.





















There you have it - the Bohemian Waxwing on Eurasian Rowan,
and a peek into my painting process. ;)

4 comments:

  1. Very nice Jonny. You are clearly very talented. We had waxwings in our garden last winter feeding on the fallen apples. I haven't seen any this year yet. They have quite a distinctive call, so I usually hear them before I see them.
    The red and yellow wing feathers are amazing.

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  2. Gosh thanks!! I heard there was quite an outburst of waxwings last year. I've never actually seen one before but I watched plenty of videos of them before I did the painting. Such lovely birds!!

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