Artists Back to Basics - Issue 6 Volume 3 2016

came the trusty air- brush!

Using the colours that will feature

in the finished work I set about my

background, spraying soft blooms

with Opera plus Ultramarine, and an

Ultramarine and Yellow Light mix for

the green grass in the foreground.

STEP 3

I re wet the background flowers and

using a wet in wet technique added

more colour and detail. I decided to

put a fence on the right hand side,

an ideal perch for a cheeky Wren. I

wanted to add some colour to each

of the birds as this helps me to keep

that tonal balance throughout the

painting. For the male birds I have

used Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine and

Titanium White for their heads tails and

chest feathers and Burnt Umber and

Sepia for the darker head feathers,

beak and tail. The female was painted

using Burnt Umber Opera and

Yellow Light, plus Titanium White.

STEP 4

Given that I like to keep my tonal

balance throughout I begin to

add colour to the basket, this

immediately brings the whole

painting together. For this I have

used Burnt Umber, Opera, Yellow

Light plus White, in the shaded

areas between the twists of cane

I have added a little Ultramarine.

STEP 5

More detail is slowly added to

the basket and the Hydrangeas,

Step 3

Watercolour Inspiration