Pastel Painting of cardinal update

I started working the feathers of the body and wings on this little bird painting today. Much more layering is going to happen until I am satisfied with the results. Thank goodness this paper can accept up to 25 layers of pastel!

 

Winter bird painting on the easel

With winter fast approaching, I am inspired to paint a snow scene. I've always wanted to paint a cardinal and so he is my next subject to be featured on paper. I am using pastels and Wallis sandpaper for this piece and it will measure roughly 3"x5" when done or, perhaps a bit larger.  It is not always easy to create the feather detail on that scale...the image shown is bigger than actual.

A few more touch ups??

I decided to add the leaves at the bottom as I felt it might frame the subject rather nicely and further enhance the back lighting. However, I'm still contemplating changing the shape of the lighter blurred out leaves to the left of the egret's beak...something doesn't seem right to me there. I'll need to put this painting aside for a bit and back away until it speaks to me that it is finished or that I need to touch it up.

A bit more bird painting work...

I have been doing more feather work on this painting tonight. I'm loving how the pink bird is starting to take a more 3 dimensional shape with the feathers looking rather ruffled. I'm thinking of darkening the tail feathers still a bit more to give the impression that the light is coming from above but I'll wait till the painting is more advanced to make a decision.

Next I should really draw his legs...one of them is tucked underneath the body with only the toes showing but I'm wondering if that will interfere with the other bird's head, being that it is in that same small area. Need to think about that too before continuing.

Painting of Great Blue Heron bird

I just completed a wildlife bird painting of a great blue heron. This piece was done using pastel on Colorfix sandpaper made by Art Spectrum.
Visit this link to view the work in progress: http://www.colettetheriault.com/workinprogress33.php
Visit this link to view the image full size:
http://www.colettetheriault.com/descriptions/paint1description/Great_Blue_Heron.php

Great Blue Heron Painting wip

Click on image to view full size.

Well I've started yet another wildlife painting so it seems I'm on a roll! The medium is pastel on sandpaper and it is a close-up detail of a great blue heron bird. Sandpaper is awesome for rendering sharp, crisp lines with pastel pencils and blends wonderfuly.