Page 65 - DPM4_Winter_2021_Flipbook

BIRD
LET’S PENCIL
BIRD
Starting with White, put in the lightest values on the bird. Using light pressure, place the highlight in the eye, the eyelid, and the top of the beak. Use your photo for reference and add the white spots on the wings, tail, and foot. Add the white tail feathers against the tree. Notice the black spots on the tail feathers and go around them. (Figure 1)
For the white feathers on the neck, head and belly, use White and light pressure to basecoat those areas. Keep in mind the growth direction of the feathers. Notice the edges are somewhat fluffy in some areas. Create them with a sharp pencil using short strokes. You will need to do a couple of layers of White in the larger areas to get complete coverage. Don’t forget the little white feathers on the left side of the face that are barely visible. The left neck area and upper right breast have a brighter highlight than the light areas. For this, you can apply White with medium pressure. Use a sharp pencil to pull the white feathers that overlap the head, cheek, back, and wings (which will eventually be black). (Figure 1)
Once you have the desired coverage of the white belly, head, and neck, use Warm Grey 20% (and light pressure) to put in the light, faint shadows on the white areas. There is a little shadow under the beak going down the neck, above the eye, on the belly feathers around the feet, under the breast feathers and on the rump feathers before the white tail feathers. Use the photo as a reference for placement. (Figure 2)
With Cool Grey 50% add some darker shadows
in the white area, except on the head. These are indicated by your pattern lines. Darken these shadows a little with Cool Grey 50% strokes to create more shadows under the feathers with Cool Grey 70%. Define these shadows more with Cool Grey 90% again at the top where it appears they tuck under
the white feathers, but don’t cover over your other shadow colors. If you get carried away with these shadows, go back and break them up with White. (Figure 2)
Tip: When I create dark feathers, I like to layer the colors to create the dark or black color. First, lay down some Cool Grey 90%, then go over that with Indigo Blue and add some Dark Umber and finally some Black. This builds your dark colors into a much richer tone. You could also use Tuscan Red instead of Indigo Blue which will make it a warmer color.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
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