Mike's conservatory (19 Viewers)

[Woody]

An interesting take on oils Mike. I had no idea you came to acrylics from watercolor. My last abstract painting was all done in oil after many years with acrylic. But then I had a large studio. Now I'm painting at home and think the fumes would just be too much to live with, much as I do like them.

That weeklong drying time is something else isn't it?! I think maybe I'm lucky that I can't paint in oils right now. I rarely have the patience let a watercolor wash dry, let alone a film of oil.

Got me thinking about where I've come from and where I'm going.

From colour pencil to watercolour to acrylic... To oil?

Mike

 

[Woody]

On the subject of little owls, I spent a while with one this weekend. Other sketches of yellow wags and swallow.

Mike

 

[Woody]

OK, so here are the wags and swallow...

Mike

 

[Mackem George]

mike sketches fantastic like the swallow really looks alive picked up on the blog mike great sir please keep it going George

 

[solitaryVSong]

mike sketches fantastic like the swallow really looks alive picked up on the blog mike great sir please keep it going George

Couldn't agree more. That last swallow is particularly nice.

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

love the sketches you have certainly got the little owl nailed Mike

 

[mark richards]

Mike!! Fantastic....love the little owls, just about finished one myself, its been on the boil for awhile...mark

 

[ospreyscotbird]

The little owl sketches are so ful of life, as for the swallow study, wonderful.

 

[halftwo]

Brill

 

[tbbilbo]

Mike, I love your "owl progressions" in the various media. I must say, the colored pencil work has a delicacy the others don't possess. And, of course, I'm partial to watercolor, but the acrylic and oil works are outstanding, too! Well done!

 

[Woody]

Cheers all!

The dipping of toes in oil continues...

This has been a bit more of a struggle I'll admit. I've learned just how easy it is to create 'Plasticine brown' with oil paints. I didn't have a plan going into this either, just made it up as I went along. The bird is obviously from a photo of a captive bird and the cliff is pretty generic but this wasn't about creating art or even a nice picture, this was purely about testing the waters with oils again. So there's still a long way to go but I'm feeling a little more comfortable with them now and I remain optimistic that eventually I'll crack 'em!

Mike

 

[Andrew H]

Despite your concerns with the plasticine issue, From my seat, its well worth the wait.!

 

[JennyMK]

Simply great! I love the work on the feathers, and the limited color palette you used!

 

[mark richards]

very nice Mike...I could not get on with oils,to messy for me,hope it works ok for you..mark

 

[Mackem George]

Wow splendid this mike detail incredible every part of scene alive well done sir.

 

[Strandman]

Cheers all!

The dipping of toes in oil continues...

Mike

well done - looks like you are a long way up the oily learning curve!

just personally I find Peregrines (and Woodcock, to be topical) absolutely unforgiving to paint

because if you get the contouring and the body shades right, then it can still all go wrong as you have to lay those horizontal bars across flanks and wing coverts and get the bars to follow the overall shape and the light

and if you get them right as you have, still there's the pale crescents around the wing coverts to be done and all balanced up

 

[solitaryVSong]

well done - looks like you are a long way up the oily learning curve!

Looks good Mike and it seems like oils are giving you no problem at all. We've had nesting peregrines in a church steeple just blocks from where I live for last couple months but I've had very few chances to go look for them. Now that weather has cooled I might give it a try but I fear that they all may be gone by now. Unfortunately they were just a bit too high to see well even with binoculars.

 

[colonelboris]

Cracking work with the oils. I've never dabbled with them as I'm too impatient to wait for them to dry and the best I managed paint-wise was acrylics.
As Ed said, Peregrines and Woodcock ain't easy. I've got a stack of abandoned Woodcock paintings knocking about somewhere...

 

[Bigshent]

OOOOOOOOO ERRRRRRR tis a thing of beauty that Peregrine :t:

 

[Woody]

Thanks All, I'm carrying on for now, despite the challenges.

I'm overhauling my website at the mo and I've got a links page to populate so if anyone here would like to be included in that let me know (here or pm) and we can get a bit of reciprocal linking going on!

Mike