Getting in a really Fowl Mood for Christmas

Not literally but artistically!

An original watercolour goose - approx. A3

An original watercolour goose - approx. A3

I have been asked to paint s pheasant and a goose. The goose is from a photo I took of one near Caerphilly castle where I live last May.

She could make a lovely accent piece in a rustic country kitchen or equally in a farmyard themed nursery perhaps:) To purchase a print of this goose please click here - https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/168525288/goose-print-fowl-animal-paintings-bird

Here are 4 stages of the pheasant - there were more than this but I forgot to stop as I was so engrossed in the painting!

Painting a pheasant in watercolour

Painting a pheasant in watercolour

The process for both was long but extra long for the goose as I needed several pale washes to define her fine plumage and soft feathering patterns on her body.

I painted these quite large for me - A3 - and they were a challenge. I photographed the stages to help me remember in future as it was very, very fiddly and demanding.

pheasant etsyHere are some of the stages - I used Arches hot pressed 90lb paper (unstretched) and Winsor & Newton tube paints in Winsor Orange, French Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Cerulean Blue, and Rose Madder Genuine plus a speck of Titanium White for the opaque dot in her eye.

P1140134 P1140135 P1140136 P1140137 P1140138 P1140139 P1140140 P1140141

Gouache Pheasant Head Study

I’m using gouache to do a head study of a pheasant as I have been commissioned to paint a very big one (A3) in watercolour.

pheasant copy

I took about 45 mins to paint this one (the drawing took 20 mins) and it has helped me to really identify and isolate colours so that I am ready to tackle it in watercolour.

I wet the whole pheasant first and then added loose underwashes of the main colours.

Then I dried it and worked each section at a time.

I love the white ring around the pheasant’s neck in contrast to the irridescence of her purples, turquoises and rich purples…

This is the pheasant I am to paint - a fun subject with a lot of attitude!

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image24438923