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PB28
A Banner Day – Osprey En Plein Aire
This was an unforgettable trip to the park – I was painting a fairly nondescript landscape of the pond when a man passed by, and asked if I had seen the osprey. I hadn’t, and of course asked him where it was. He pointed – maybe 20 feet away and practically over my head! All that time there was a fabulous bird of prey right out in the open, and I missed him completely!
Another Lighthouse Paper Test: Fabriano Cold Press
I find lighthouses are irresistible subjects when I want to test some paper… there is no better excuse to paint a sky!
This is some 140lb Fabriano Cold Press that I’m considering for the next sketchbook. Have been using various brands of 140lb rough for the last three books and decided to change it up a bit. I like using something different in each, keeps me from getting stagnant.
The Third Bird: Brandt’s Cormorant
I painted three water birds to check out the Garza Papel 140lb sample sheets. Here’s bird #3, a Brandt’s Cormorant. Source image courtesy of stalksthedawn in the WetCanvas Reference Image Library.
Garza 140lb CP, PB28 Cobalt and PBr7 Burnt Sienna. Some of the darker grays are PB29+PBr7. Painted him with thoughts of the compromised young Brandt’s that practically flopped onto my feet during a morning beach walk a few weeks ago. He was struggling to move out of the surf zone and it almost seemed like he came to us for help.
A Repair Job – American Avocet
I decided to paint a series of shorebirds on some of those lovely Garza Papel sample sheets. For extra fun/practice I am doing them without sketching first, just put up a ref and dive in. The Great Blue (heron) turned out nice, so I decided to do an American Avocet next. It was an adventure! I thought others might benefit from seeing a rescue operation in progress.
The short version: Better to plan ahead than try to fix things!
The Great Blue
Testing a free sample of Garza Papel. I’m in love!! They have a standing offer for free samples, which I highly recommend if you’ve never used their paper. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m dying to purchase and make a sketchbook out of it… have to save up first though. It will be worth it.
Cobalt blue PB28 and Burnt Sienna PBr7. I mixed the samples up accidentally, this one feels like 140lb CP. It’s about 5.5″ x 7.5″.
The reference was a Great Blue Heron, although the red came on too strong and it’s looking more like a Little Blue Heron. Oh well. No base sketch, I just went right in with a wet brush, for the challenge.
Originally posted on WetCanvas.com.
Lighthouse Paper Test
Paper test! The first washes looked really good, so I decided to finish it up. PB28, PO62, and PBr7 Burnt Umber. It’s 12″ x 4″ on 140lb Fabriano Artistico Rough.
And yes, I love the paper!
Stormcloud Painting
That storm doodle sketch inspired me to try it again on a quarter sheet. Same two colors, same method, same laws of physics – totally different results! This is a cropped version, hiding a really prominent breaking wave at the bottom that was just bugging me as soon as I’d painted it.
Stormcloud Doodle
I was inspired by some stormclouds the other day and painted a sketch of them. PB28 Cobalt and PO62 benzimidazolone orange. Mostly washed on as pure color + let the laws of physics do the magic. (I did mix a little on the palette for the very deep accents in the clouds. ) Added the lighthouse after it was dry, I just couldn’t stop seeing one there so had to do it. About 5″ x 7″ on a loose piece of 140lb paper, probably the Richeson stuff I don’t really like. Worked well here though!