ArtistDrawingandInspiration 45DEMONSTRATIONSTEPONEMATERIALS
- Half sheet of white Colourfix
paper taped to a backingboard - A workablematt spray
fixativeand SpectraFix
spray for final fixing - Art Spectrumand Rembrandt
soft pastels:Pale blue, dark
brown,mid-brown,mid-
pink, light yellow,light
grey, orange,white, burnt
sienna,reddishbrown - Faber-Castell hard pastels:
mid-grey,dark grey, light warm
grey, lavender,mid-brown - Faber-Castell pastel pencils:
Very dark blue No. 157, black,
white, dark yellow,mid-green,
dark brown,light grey, mid-grey - Conte pastel pencil:
Pale blue No.56 - Conte Pastel Pencil No.56
- No 2 chisel blender
- No 2 pointedblender
- Putty rubber
- Wet cloth or wet ones
to remainclear when colour is applied,
I find this methodmeans I don’t have
to put back any detail lost when I
put in the rest of the background.
Next I appliedvery dark brown
soft pastel to the eye and feathers
where they are darkest,then a dark
blue pastel pencil to the beak and
a mid-pink,light yellowand light
grey soft pastelsto the lower beak
blendedwith the chisel blender,as
fingersare too big for some areas.
I used the same dark blue pencil
to indicatethe shadowon the branch
under the front bird and put a mid-
brown soft pastel on the inside edge
of the verticalbranches,light yellow
soft pastel on the lighter side of the
branchand used a light warm grey
hard pastel to gently blend the colours
together.Then I applieda light yellow
soft pastel to the chests and under
bellies and chose a burnt sienna and
a reddishbrown soft pastel to use on
the tail featherswith a black pencil to
indicatethe darker side of the stripes.
A dark yellow,a mid-greenand
dark brown pencilswere used to
colour the leaves and stems.STEPTWO
I appliedmid-brownsoft pastel
over the dark brownon the heads
and used the chisel blendingtoolto blend and drag colourover the
top of the heads and aroundthe
eyes and under the beaks,then I put
black and dark blue into the centre
of the eye and aroundthe edges
of the eye with pastel pencils.
Now for the back of the birds,
mid-brownwas gentlyblended
into the dark brown,leavingthe
dark areas under the wings.Next I
startedoutliningsome of the feathers
with white pencil,as this is not a
botanicaldepiction;I chose only the
most obviousfeathersto draw in.
At this point I spray my work with
fixativeto help preventsmudging.STEPTHREE
I continueddrawingin feathersand
then blendedthe sharp white edges
into the brown on the featherswith
the pointedblender.I put more colour
on the tails using the same colours
mentionedin Step One, again blending
with the pointedblender.The chests
were next, I applieda soft white
over the light yellowusing the side
of the pastel followingthe direction
in which the feathersgrow and
then drew in a splatteringof feather
detail with a light grey pencil.
Next I tackledthe branches,
applyinglight yellowsoft pastel
over all, mid-greyand dark-greySTEPONEFirstly I applieda very pale blue soft
pastel (gentlyrubbedin with my
finger)to the backgroundimmediately
aroundthe birds and the very small
foliage.This allows the detailededges
STEPTWO