Thursday, January 26, 2012

Two Commissions


I've just finished this 10" x 8" oil of a finch for a client.  It's been sitting in the studio half-finished for a month or more while I decided what it needed.   My paintings always work out better if I don't rush them.  Once the piece is about 80% finished,  I lean it against the wall in the studio for a couple of days.  Sometimes I know within a day or two what needs to be done to finish it - other times it will take a month or more as with this piece.




This second commission is a 12" x 16" of black-billed magpies, and is at the lean-it-against-the-wall stage.  When a painting is at this stage, I also photograph so it can flip it horizontally in Photoshop...the equivalent of looking at it in the mirror.  If I like the flipped or mirror image - I know it is working.

This is my third attempt at this painting.  I've discovered that magpies aren't easy birds to work into a composition because of the long tail and the dramatic black and white markings but I'm happy with this composition.   Once the brush and birds are tweaked a little, it will be finished.

I'm hoping to do a little 75 for $75 study before the end of the day.  Stay tuned!

1 comment:

  1. Birds are my passion! But I can paint them only using lines and they come out very asbtract. But the style I use is often too abstract anyway))

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