I have had a wonderful week this week as I have had complete freedom to paint just what I wanted. I have a few new pieces to share with you in the coming days but a subject i return to time and again is movement. I love birds and the way they move and a favourite of mine is the king fisher .
1. Find an image of a kingfisher and draw it as carefully as you can. I often use pixabay as a source of images or I have some friendly photographer friends who help me too.
2. Now it is time to get painting. I like to make sure I have everything I need . Fresh water, kitchen roll, my paintbrushes in easy reach. I also tape the paper to the board with masking tape. I use bockingford watercolour paper and Winsor and Newton paints. I have no secret formula but I always start with the eye, I like to get to know my subject and once he has an eye he has a personality.
3. Now I like to splash some masking fluid around. Much as you splatter paint but it is gloopier and less willing to cooperate. Also watch your clothes it is tricky to get off.
4.So let the masking fluid dry completely and you can paint all the details on the head and the beak. The kingfisher has such amazing colouring so don't be shy. I use indian yellow, phthalo blue, veridian , cadmium orange , cerean blue and splashes of clean water to get the textures.
Be careful to know where you want the colours study the bird carefully.
5.Now carry on down the body but you can be much freer with the wing. I use a mixture of cadmium red and cobalt blue to paint the wing and I use lots of water and brush strokes in the direction of movement I want. You also need to be aware of where the bird emerges from the water, keep these lines very blurred with lots of water.
6. Now to go a bit mad, be like the water. I use indigo and phthalo blue mixed together and create the water effect with strong paint and lots of water. Finally let it dry completely and I splatter some white acrylic on for good measure. Now wait for it to dry again and rub off your pencil lines ....
....and hey presto your kingfisher is complete!
8 comments
Nice
Nice
I found your kingfisher blog post today. The incredible coincidence is that I was painting an almost identical image yesterday afternoon! It was very interesting to watch your process as mine was rather different and sadly much less successful. Thank you for posting this – I very much like your work, but am not on any social media.