MATERIALS
• Pastel substrate: Art Spectrum Colorfix.
• Artists’ pastels in selected colours.
• Reference photographs.
The subject matter is my focus. It can be subtle or dramatic; subdued or vivid. I have chosen these birds, the Eclectus Parrots, because they are at once bold and vivid – but camouflaged into their natural environment in the tropical forests. They show extreme sexual dimorphism as the male is bright green, with highlights of red and blue; and the female is a combination of rich reds and blues. Feather textures are quite specific. The challenge is to create an artistic painting which is aesthetically pleasing and true to the nature and form of the subject.
I work as quickly and as loosely as I can – detailing only towards the final stages of the work – and trying to restrict such detailing to the points of focus or interest (such as the eyes or leaf margins).
STEP ONE
I chose a sheet of Art Spectrum Colorfix as the ground. It has an excellent tooth for pastel. I broadly sketched in the birds with chunky pastel. I placed the birds centrally, the male overlaying the female to perch on an old branch above typical forest vegetation. I used AS Spectrum Red, Bordeaux Red (dark) and Bordeaux Red (light) for the initial reds; and AS Ultramarine and Schminke Prussian Blue for the blues. For the initial greens I used AS Yellow Green (light and dark), Schminke May Green; with AS Turquoise (light) for cool and Schminke Sunproof Yellow for warm. A touch of WN Orange on the bill; and black and white around the eyes.
STEP TWO
To indicate the female beak, claws and branch I used AS Warm Grey, some Blue Grey and Jacaranda; and for the dark, Flinders Blue Violet (use the latter with caution – it is a very useful dark, but it can get into everything). Care was taken with the feet and legs – the placement and angulation.
STEP THREE
To indicate placement of foliage, I used the same green as the male – so (visually) the hues would flow through the painting.
STEP FOUR
I continued refining the background, adding to the complexity but retaining the colours already used and increasing the use of the plumage colours.
STEP FIVE
I decided the lighter hues of the foliage needed to be brought lower in the composition to emphasise the brilliant colour camouflage and provide better compositional balance. Then I smoothed the pastel on the birds to blend the edges between light and shade. I used my fingers … but not too much.
I continued defining the feather patterns on both birds. The neck featheration appeared as slightly spikey small random feathers indicated tonally. On the crown, feathers appeared flatter and smoother with reflected light. Paler colour judiciously used created the illusion of rolling form perspective (upper or dorsal surfaces reflect the blue of the sky, lower or ventral surfaces the usually warmer hues of foliage and ground; while cooler colours recede and warmer colours advance). The upper wig feathers were softer and more random; the flight feathers were stiffer, stronger, larger and more uniform in number and pattern.
Checking the overall form, the head and wing of the female needed adjusting and the breast of the male needed fluffing out a little. More definition was added around the scaly feet and toes, with the sharp claws providing a secure foothold.
STEP SIX
I used AS Phthalo Green (dark) and Schminke Prussian Blue to darken behind the foliage, and emphasised the palm leaf edges with brighter colours so they stood away from the deeper layers. I brought some Turquoise into the higher foliage to enhance this recession, and employed warmer though pale adjustments into the foreground lower leaves.
I decided the foreground of the branch was awkward, so I cut some off centrally and added more sombre hued lichen … so visually it seemed to flow into the composition, rather than dragging the eye out.
More detail in the feathering was achieved with pastel pencils in similar hues to the original pastel colours. This pencil work provided more defining emphasis of the feather form and layers, and other detailed areas. The beak of the female needed broadening too, to give a more curved shape.
A few checks and a signature completed the picture.
MASTER HINTS AND TIPS
• To me, the main rule in art is that there are no rules. Art is both subjective and objective – to record the concept in your head, you use whatever you can to achieve the goal of translating this mental concept to a form which can be recognised by others. Think, experiment and work problems out. Often a solution arrives in the middle of the night!
• Use good quality materials – if you are limited in the number of pastels, use mainly secondary or tertiary reds, blues and yellows – they will, when mixed, give a wider and more aesthetic solution.
• A ground with good tooth helps to hold the pastel and build layers. · Avoid the use of black alone. Use combinations of the darkest green, blue and red – this will give vibrancy to dark passages. The order in which you lay the colours down varies the depth and temperature of the darks. Experiment!
• Use secondary or tertiary colours; or create your own (they can be more subtle).
• In wildlife painting I do have one or two rules: Observe, observe, observe! And remember that the welfare of your subject comes first. Do not harass or really disturb your subject; and never use flash photography with animals (their eyes are much more sensitive, especially those of nocturnal animals whose pupils are wide open in the darkness).
