Hello everyone!
Thank you for signing up to the second livestream. The link to join is :
YouTube LiveStream Saturday November 20th 2021 1pm EST
We’ll be painting a bird this time. This is from a reference photo by Dave Nightingale and is wonderfully dramatic and has fantastic shapes. I’ll be videoing the drawing and will post the link here in the next couple of days.
Here is the reference image I’ll be using.
And here is a gridded version. I generally don’t use grids with watercolor as you have to be very, very light with your pencil lines. And thenputting paint over graphite means you can’t erase it so you have to be careful to remove everything you don’t want to show before you start painting. But if it helps you get a better painting then feel free.
I’ve included a list of materials below. If you have any questions please email or DM me on facebook. Happy to answer any queries.
See you on Saturday!
Edit: Here is the drawing video. Pretty quick this one. No feather details but just the head, feet and wings.
Edit: And here is the livestream video
Edit: And here is the finished demo painting
Materials :
Paper:
I’ll be using a 15″x11″ piece of 100% cotton 140lb watercolor paper. I like Fabriano Artistico but any 100% cotton paper is fine. Cheaper paper is *much* harder to work with – the paint dries very fast and blends are much trickier to achieve. If you have some scrap paper for swatches (any type) that will also be useful.
Brushes:
A round sable (or close equivalent like an Escoda Versatil or Princeton Aqua Elite) size 10 or 12 will do much of the work. My goto brush is an Escoda Reserva size 12 which holds oodles of water and points beautifully.
I’ll be doing some larger areas with a quill (~9mm diameter) but a flat brush also works. In a pinch your size 12 laden with lots of water can do the job.
A smaller synthetic for detail work is nice but if your size 12 round points well you can use that.
Paint:
I use tube paints exclusively. Mostly Da Vinci but any artists quality brand is fine. Some student paints are ok (Cotman and Lukas Studio) but there’s always one essential color in there that is substandard. Pan paints are fine if that’s all you have but getting rich mixes takes more time. Spritz them with water 15 minutes ahead of time to loosen them up a little.
Colors:
Lemon yellow,
Yellow Ochre,
Vermillion or an orangey red (cad red medium or naphthol),
Permanent Rose or a pinkish red (permanent alizarin or quinacridone red),
ultramarine blue,
cerulean or cobalt blue,
burnt sienna
black (I like lamp black but ivory is fine)
Misc:
A drawing board to tape your paper to
Masking tape
Mechanical pencil for the drawing
Kneaded eraser
Paper towels
Small spray bottle (nice to have but not essential)
Value scale
Water container and water
Palette for your paint. A butcher’s tray or, in a pinch, a plate will work. Just make sure it’s white and there is space for mixing.