Two in the Bush

Meet my Aunty Katy:

Actually, I have two.

Looking pretty fine. But I get ahead of myself -- let's go through the steps, from lowly charcoal sketch to layers of oil paint.

I liked the pose of these two guys. 

I kept thinking of "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more..."

Next, the official Hot Mess stage:

Never despair, it will get better.

Then slather on more paint -

I'm happy with the colors, I love making so many different shades of green. Then I thought I'd try to add some real foliage details in the bottom of the frame:

I added more and more detail, more fronds, but then I wasn't so sure. They looked a little goofy, and maybe distracted too much from the birds. What do you think?

They looked as if they were having their own conversation down beneath the birds.

Too goofy. So I started to scrape and wipe them off with some turpentine. More Hot Mess time.

I painted over them with a more stately crew of frond folks.

Then back to the birds. I love their eyes......

Done!

I think................

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Put a Bird on It

I found a lot of different looking birds when I googled "Night Heron" but  I settled on the pose  of this character. For the attitude alone.......

Looking good, right? But remember how it started -- 

First, lots of dark washes to block out the bird and the rocks.  Lighter washes on the background that I then layered up with thicker smears of paint. I knew I would be glazing over the background eventually so I tried a few different colors and let it get patchy.

You can still see some of the original chalk grid through the bird and rocks.

Then some big changes -- layered more paint on the bird, creating some volume and form. Also thin glazes on the background to tamp down the intense color and make more cohesive. I really love the texture and drips on the background now.

Built up the head and body some more making the blue less intense and more of a cool gray. I finally blocked in the rocky ground, which I should have done earlier....

I quite like those legs.

Wasn't sure what to do with those rocks. I was painting them from my imagination.....so I just turned them into 3 dimensional slabs and cubes.

There. Done!

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Hot Mess

Yes, my work space is typically a hot mess. 

But I'm referring more specifically to that stage of a painting when all hope is lost or, at first glance, appears so. The first touch of paint to canvas can give one pause because it usually looks horrific, lacking all hope.  A singular Hot Mess.

To wit:

Polly want a make over?

Yes.

Charcoal showing through, I apply thin washes of paint with turpentine and map out the color plan for the painting. Veins and capillaries snake over the canvas.

It's still a hot mess.

Polly want a pedicure?

I add washes of color across the background, too, hoping that the charcoal grid will soon disappear.

Ok, a layer of paint everywhere, time to build up some more layers. Using less turpentine and thicker paint.

Talk to me, bird.

I have a colleague who owns a parrot. A bit of a sociopath, (the bird, that is,not my colleague) he would imitate his owner's voice and call the dog  to come upstairs. When the gullible mutt bounded into the room, the parrot  promptly cursed the dog out, calling him "bad dog, bad dog!"

The claws are coming out......!

That parrot was also adept at mimicking that squeaking sound  that you make when you wipe down a window with paper towels and windex - eeen-eeen-eeen eeeeee,   eeen-eeen-eeen

Coming together.

Decide to add some thatch...a little more island stylee.

Just about done -- might want to do a little more with the background, perhaps some glazing. Dunno. But so far so good. 

What do you think?

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A Flock of Sea Gulls

As part of my ongoing commission project -- to paint 15 paintings, each representing a bird found in Jamaica -  I've decided to tackle several at once. I've been gathering more references, making small sketches and then scaling those drawings up on to 2'x3' canvases.  In addition to the Parrot, I've completed 6 more so far.

JACANA

NIGHT HERON

  AUNTY KATY aka Banana Quit

 DOCTOR BIRD

JOHN CHEWITT  aka Black Whiskered Vireo

  KINGFISHER

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City Painting Packs it in

Finished!



I

And finally on its way  --

With a bit more cardboard, plastic, bubble wrap and tape, of course .... it's huge.

Going all the way across the country -- UPS ground should get it there by early next week. 

Anybody else out there have an idea for a custom painting -- your favorite places, family names, or what-have you, email me for a quote!

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