[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by Adam W

Had a pretty disaterous days birding so give up and did some more painting instead.

you know what eveyone's going to say

1. do no more to the veg: its perfect

2. time to do the bird

[Adam W]

Originally Posted by ed keeble

you know what eveyone's going to say

1. do no more to the veg: its perfect

2. time to do the bird

Very kind of you Ed but I actually think there's still quite a bit of work to be done on the leaves and branches,its only really the big leaf I've finished or so i thought.

[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by Adam W

Very kind of you Ed but I actually think there's still quite a bit of work to be done on the leaves and branches,its only really the big leaf I've finished or so i thought.

aha- well its certainly your pic and your call

I rather like the depth-of-field impression as it stands, the impact of the in focus front leaf with the bird on or near it (I assume), the background bright but less sharp

its rather how Ian Lewington does these things, sometimes with an extreme gradient between the area of focus with the bird in and the rest

[Adam W]

Originally Posted by ed keeble

aha- well its certainly your pic and your call

I rather like the depth-of-field impression as it stands, the impact of the in focus front leaf with the bird on or near it (I assume), the background bright but less sharp

its rather how Ian Lewington does these things, sometimes with an extreme gradient between the area of focus with the bird in and the rest

Yes thats where the bird will go and that whole depth of field thing was what i was originally going for with it being inspired by a photo but I kind of had a change of heart when it got going.The photo of the painting i've posted does actually make it look a bit more finished than it looks in real life,i agree that looking at this picture it looks just about finished but looking at the actual painting there's a bit more needs doing yet I think though I might well still try for a bit of depth of field effect.

[Woody]

I really like this Adam, the light through the leaf is spot on, like a Terry Isaacs piece.

Mike

[Apodemus]

I love that light.

Now.... where's the bird?

[nickderry]

you just be very careful if yu need to work on it more! If all that vibrant freshness goes, it will be a great shame. Intrigued to see what you do with it.

[JTMB]

Great work as everyone else has said here - anxiously awaiting the arrival of the bird!

[Adam W]

Well I've made a start on the bird.

[Apodemus]

Ahhh, there it is! Looking good so far.

[Lykos]

fantastic,the little bird

friendly greetings Gaby

[Adam W]

Another one finished, could have been better perhaps but pretty happy considering this is something a little different from my usual.

I've also posted a close up of the bird because i couldnt seem to get a photo that showed the bird correctly it always seemed a little over exposed so hopefully the larger pic of the bird shows the detail a bit better.

[nickderry]

you can be very pleased with the results, perhaps next time you should consider starting the bird with the background and developing them together, sometimes when a bird is added last of all, it changes the entire dynamic of a picture and can look like an afterthought rather than an integral part of the piece. I like the colours in this, a real autumn glow.

[Adam W]

Originally Posted by nickderry

you can be very pleased with the results, perhaps next time you should consider starting the bird with the background and developing them together, sometimes when a bird is added last of all, it changes the entire dynamic of a picture and can look like an afterthought rather than an integral part of the piece. I like the colours in this, a real autumn glow.

Thanks, i see what you mean though I've always done my paintings by adding the bird last and it normally seems to work okay. I'm not altogether happy with this one but it does actually look a little better and the bird more part of the picture in the flesh than these photo's make it look.
I'll certainly bare your advice in mind next time I do this kind of painting

[timwootton]

Splendid. A very fine piece, indeed.

[solitaryVSong]

Originally Posted by nickderry

you can be very pleased with the results, perhaps next time you should consider starting the bird with the background and developing them together, sometimes when a bird is added last of all, it changes the entire dynamic of a picture and can look like an afterthought rather than an integral part of the piece. I like the colours in this, a real autumn glow.

Very nice Adam. I have to agree about the 'real autumn glow.'

I'm also sympathetic to the idea of working on the whole picture all at once. But then I don't think I've ever been able to work as you have here, saving the most important part for last. So I don't know what it's like. I do think you've been very successful in doing so though. The bird seems to have just the right amount of brightness and light to it.

[Adam W]

Thanks everyone, I've never really thought of painting the bird as i go though as I've said this picture isnt my usual style. I find the adding the birds at the end seems to work well with my normal pictures where it tends to be more concentrating on the sky and water or other background and just adding a few small birds to finish it off but with a painting like this one I can see how it might be better to wrk on the bird as you go.

[JTMB]

Excellent piece you've done here, Adam! Very nice indeed.

[Apodemus]

Lovely, Adam. The colours harmonise beautifully and you didn't lose that glow.

[Adam W]

Thanks again for the kind comments everyone

[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by Adam W

Thanks again for the kind comments everyone

one more to add: well done for keeping the light

there's wise words in here about at least starting the bird at an early stage so you can keep an eye on it

personally I find that because I don't know if the background is going to go wrong and the whole thing will end up on the reject pile, I don't want to invest too much careful time on the bird early doors..

[Woody]

Great result Adam. You'd like Terry Isaac's book, 'Painting the drama of wildlife'. He talks a lot about gettlng elements from different sources to sit together as a harmonious whole.

Mike

[mark richards]

very nice Adam...seems to have worked well...mark

[phil baber]

Superb! You can almost extend your arm into the piece! (Though I wouldn't want to flush your subject!)
Great seeing this take shape also!

[Adam W]

Didnt realise just how long it was since I'd done any painting untili tried to find this thread, thought I'd try a bit of watercolour for a change.