My technique is to use two brushes, one with
pigment and the other just damp. If one tries to
wash out the irst brush the paint has already
started to dry and this leaves an unwanted dark
line. With some of the leaves, I have started with
a yellow-green wash as they hadn’t quite lost their
chlorophyll content. When I go over that wash the
irst one will tend to glow through which is the
efect I am after.
Step Three
The leaves with all their eaten-out holes and insect
markings are reined further and the details are
added. I then put a wash on the stem and drew
in the wrens. I have used photographic reference
for the wrens plus a ‘jenny’ wren that has been
preserved for me by a taxidermist friend.
It is usually possible to go to the major museums
with bird collections and make sketches and take
photographs. Colour sketches are very useful for
reference. The photographs were taken by Canberra
Step 1Step 2AStep 2B