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Watercolours (1 Viewer)

Well, I managed to get into town to the art supply shop just before closing time this afternoon and got a round brush size 14 and a flat three-quarter-inch brush, as Tim and Nick have suggested. I am looking forward to trying these out.
 
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Ok, here is the next one for your perusal. This is again from my photos (painting practice not sketching from life practice), this time of a sleeping Shelduck. I am not too unhappy with this one, but there are one or two bits that could have been better, such as the leg and the back wing.
The blacks are, this time as per Woody's and Psilo's suggestions, made up of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber, with some green mixed in for the bird's head. The 'black' works a treat and much better than the bog standard black you get in the box. The chestnut colour of the bird's lower breast is also a mixture.
I've also tried a little background and 'environment' this time, using my newly acquired large brushes (roll on pay day on Friday - I have used the last of what was in my current a/c to pay for them!). The brushes are great.

Edit, it looks better as a thumbnail!
 

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Now this is good, excellent colours, all you need to work on now is confidence, don't dabble with the paint, slap it on where you want it. (this works to a point - then the paint fights back!) Looking forward to seeing more, you should be ready to try outside now!
 
Cheers Nick. I'm looking forward to next Monday and Tuesday (my next couple of days off) when hopefully this ghastly weather will have improved (well, we can but hope) and I can get out and about.
 
tell me about the weather! Not only is it getting in the way of my attempt to paint plein air, it's also flooded out nearly all of the region's bee eaters. Hope you manage to get some painting done.
 
Edit, it looks better as a thumbnail![/quote]
Oh no it doesn't - this is a lovely piece, you use watercolours like a natural! Yes, the couple of points you make about leg etc are right - but it shows you're spotting where the issues are and next time they'll be right!
As a painting, however - it's very satisfying and successful.
 
Looks wonderful. You already have a good hand with the watercolor, but I am really looking forward to seeing more paintings and watching your ease with the brush become more apparent!
 
I think that it is lovely too. Your colour mixing on the head works a treat. Try to keep colours fresh looking as it is all too easy to make watercolours muddy. The only advise I would give you on this one is to try and make your shadows stronger. Yours lack impact. Do not be afraid to really define them with some good strong colour. One of my paintings below shows just how strong colours can be incorporated into shadows. (sorry its so small. Ive lifted it from an old forum and i dont keep any of my bird paintings on this pc)
sorry ignore the bitmap version
 

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beautifully strong shadows give an excellent form to this snowy owl Annette, at last we see one of your birds and very glad to see it too!
 
psilo said:
The only advise I would give you on this one is to try and make your shadows stronger. Yours lack impact.
Click to expand...

With the shadows, I guess that I'd use a darker mixture incorporating the colours of the ground beneath the bird, maybe containing a bit of blue?

There are a couple of other areas I'm aiming to address, too, the result of the pitfalls of using a photo as sole reference.
 
Hi all,

Totally off subject, but the Shelduck reminded me, several years ago I was sitting in the marsh in Ballycotton trying to paint Shelduck, all of a sudden a small wader with a red throat pops his head up alongside the Shelduck I was painting ......Irelands first Red Necked Stint! I'm not sure if I ever finished the painting.
Love the watercolour Vectis
Phil.
 
Love this, Vectis! Nice big, bold shapes, and making things a little darker has made a surprising amount of difference.
 
I paint alot in watercolour - nearly all landscape and am starting to work on some wildlife especially birds. Like most painters I am always looking at how light hits a subject and gives it it's form. This is what I tried to do with this little dipper. Not sure how I want to progress - I'm just going to experiment and see where it takes me. I am working with my own photos but do occassionally produce a few scribbles in the field.
 

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This is really rather beautiful, Wendy. When you say not sure how to progress, I assume you don't mean with this piece (as it surely is 'finished') but with regard to developing your work. This is easy, peasy advice - keep on working like this til you get bored of it - very lovely stuff!
 
Impressive watercolour technique and a lovely portrait of one of my favourite birds locally, just keep painting and direction will find you.
 
This piece is finished and beautiful Wendy, it's interesting to see how your background in landscape is translated in birds, your approach is quite different to mine and I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of your birds as I feel this 'other point of view' can teach me a lot.
 
Thanks folks and please constructive criticism is what I also need. I agree with you Nick our approach is so different but then everyone has their own signature don't they. I am not as imaginative as you. Basically I need things in front of me and them I paint what I see. I need to work outdoors from life but I like painting from photos. As well as the pleasure in just painting it also allows me to relive the day and see things all over again.
 
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