MATERIALS
• Primed artists’ canvas – 24 x 24 inches.
• Artists’ acrylics: Titanium White; Ultramarine Blue; Phthalo Blue; Cadmium Yellow Mid; Quinacridone Magenta; Crimson.
• Number 2 Art Spectrum fan brushes;and a quarter inch Taklon oval brush.
• Sea sponge or modified kitchen sponge.
STEP ONE
For the rainbow background, I lightly sponged on paint allowing the white of the canvas to show through to suggest a dappled light effect. The colours I used were Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta and Ultramarine Blue. I didn’t pre-mix any secondaries, but I let them develop on the canvas as the primaries overlapped.
STEP TWO
I lightened the centre of the canvas by removing some of the paint with a wet sponge before positioning my birds. I decided to leave out a couple of the more static birds from my oil pastel study, and added a flying bird instead. I wanted the lower pair to appear slightly separated from the commotion of the feeding frenzy, with one recognising the presence of the viewer and the other, totally self absorbed in his preening, oblivious to everyone and everything else. I wanted the others to be less detailed to convey the energy, movement and noise associated with the feeding frenzy.
Once the birds were in place I packed up my paints and put them away for a while. The painting stayed on the easel in a prominent spot in the house where I could glance at it regularly. At this stage I became very dissatisfied with the project. The birds appeared too heavy for the feeling I was aiming to convey and I was not happy with just laying on more and more paint. I fell into an artistic slump and contemplated starting again.
I had just joined an online art group called ‘The Complete Artist’ and a new friend from there asked me what was currently on my easel. I confessed my frustration to her and she told me that she had once been unhappy with some clouds in a painting – and fixed them with sandpaper.
“Why don’t you just try something?” was her suggestion. “You’ve got nothing to lose if you were going to scrap it anyway.”
STEP THREE
So with the words you’ve got nothing to lose if you were going to scrap it anyway’ringing in my ears, I started trying things.
With a damp scourer sponge and straight bold strokes, I removed some of the ‘heavy’ paint to let in the light. I just kept washing the sponge between strokes and working from the centre out. When I felt I had enough rays happening, I made random sun dappled spots with the same sponge by rotating it in circles.
This drastic measure had succeeded in lightening up the work and putting me back on track.
I replaced a little colour back into the rays and the spots with some light washes.
I still hadn’t decided for certain what the birds were going to be eating. I didn’t want to paint the Queen Palms from my reference photographs as I had recently become aware that there is some concern about the birds spreading these exotic species, and I did not want to appear to be celebrating that fact. I didn’t really want to paint any flora at all. I didn’t want any delicate plant details to distract from the boldness of the birds.
STEP FOUR
While I was still in the ‘loose’ mood, I decided to go for some abstract foliage. I mixed some green from the Phthalo Blue and Cadmium Yellow and added a little Magenta to Crimson for the red – and proceeded to randomly splash in some foliage. I also splashed a little yellow and blue here and there.
Once I had enough colour, I touched the red areas lightly with the sponge to form ‘gum blossom type’ splotches.
STEP FIVE
I brought back my three middle birds. I decided to reposition the centre one a little closer to the lower pair, and also added some detail to the red splotches to give more of a suggestion of gum blossoms.
At this point I hung the canvas on my dining room wall. My mum (who is not an artist, but has a good eye for colour and co-ordination) came to visit and we assessed the painting together. She commented that the pink on the bottom right was too eye catching; and I was not happy with the bird left of the centre.
I agreed that the pink – although I loved the colour – was not really present in the birds, and it disturbed the overall colour unity.
To address the pink problem, I placed a light yellow wash across the top section and a blue wash over the lower part. This subdued the Magenta without eradicating it completely. I also added a hint of Magenta to the gum blossoms. I searched through my reference photographs for a bird to replace the one I was not happy with.
FINAL STEP
Reaching once more for my damp sponge, I scrubbed out the offending bird. I decided on a replacement specimen that was facing the camera, with a lot of underbelly showing. This allowed me to introduce some Magenta toning into the bird which helped unify the colours. I felt the new bird really brought everything together – both colour wise and compositionally.
I decided to make the newcomer the focal point so I paid more attention to his face and gave it sharper detail than the other birds.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• You don’t always need to be adding medium to your painting. Sometimes it is better to remove some paint to achieve the effect you are after.
• Before you ‘scrap’ a painting, “just try something’. Remember: You have nothing to lose if you were going to scrap it anyway.
• If you decide to try ‘splashing the paint on, take your work outside – unless you particularly like the effect of splattered walls and furniture.
• Don’t rule out advice from non-artists. They still know what looks right to them, and non-artists buy paintings.They know what they like.
• When you get stuck, view your painting in a mirror for a fresh look.
• Don’t give up if the composition doesn’t seem to be coming together. One small addition in the end can sometimes save the whole picture.
