fir trees Archives - Guy Radcliffe Wildlife Artist

February 7, 2019April 9, 2019

Painting a tree and grass on my cormorant painting

Painting a tree and grass on my cormorant painting – I added a tree and some grass to my gouache cormorant painting. Using warm yellows for sunlight and cool blues and black for the shadows, I tried to give the appearance of trees and grass in the early morning sunlight. The sun is rising on the right side of the painting therefore the light is on the right side of the trees and grass and the shadows (blues) are on the left. When I paint the grass I use a dark gray or black base coat. From there I add a green with very little white or yellow mixed with it. The green goes on top of the gray/black base coat. Then I add the highlights which is a pale yellow with Permanent White mixed with it. Please watch the video to see how I paint grass using a liner brush with the colors mentioned.

Continue reading “Painting a tree and grass on my cormorant painting”

January 11, 2015September 24, 2018

Prints of Blue Heron on Fine Art America

Prints of Blue Heron - Prints of this painting are for sale on my store on Fine Art America. — Prints of Blue Heron – Prints of this painting are for sale on my store on Fine Art America.

Prints of Blue Heron on Fine Art America – Decorate your home or office with prints of my painting of two Great Blue Herons wading in a lily pad pond. I have documented over many weeks how I painted and drew each line and brush stroke. Finally, the artwork is available to buy. To purchase a print, please visit my store on Fine Art America. Customers in Europe who are looking for prints can go to my store on the London, UK based art dealer Saatchi Art. You can also buy the original painting on Saatchi Art. In addition to prints, you can also buy a greeting card or a throw pillow (for $25.00) with my artwork on it from Fine Art America.

January 11, 2015September 24, 2018

Great Blue Herons Painting Now Available on Saatchi Art

Great Blue Herons Painting - Gouache Painting - Prints of this painting are for sale on my store on Fine Art America. — Great Blue Herons Wading in a Lily Pad Pond – Gouache Painting – Prints of this painting are for sale on my store on Fine Art America.

The Great Blue Herons Painting is now available on my store from the London, UK art dealer Saatchi Art. Read about the step by step progress of how I created this painting on my blog. From thumbnail sketch to signature, the drawing, painting, color and brush selection is in my blog. Interesting for those who are curious about the process of creating a gouache wildlife painting.

Original Artwork Available

Additionally, the original painting is available on the Saatchi Art website. Prints of this painting are available as well from Saatchi Art. Also, US customers may to go to my store on Fine Art America.

January 1, 2015September 24, 2018

Painting Lily Pads on the Great Blue Heron Painting

Painting Lily Pads on the Great Blue Heron Painting – Since the last post, I’ve added several lily pads to the pond. To add more lily pads, I took Winsor & Newton Permanent White and painted them on the pond. This will give the green that I will use for the lily pad a brighter color of green by having white beneath it. Also, you want to pay attention to the color of white that you use. For gouache, there are several “white” colors. Permanent White because it is the brightest and most opaque of all the whites. Once I have a solid opaque color of white, I can paint the lily pads green. For consistency, the same green is used that I mixed for the grass, to paint the lily pads.

Painting Lily Pads – Adding Shadows

I want the illusion that the lily pads are elevated above the surface of the water. Therefore shadows are added. When I painted the lake, I mixed a surplus of paint in case I needed to paint it over again. Mixing some of that with Jet Black, I create a shadow color that can be used for the lily pads over the surface of the water. Like white paint, there are different colors of black. Jet Black is best because it is the blackest most opaque black color in gouache. I used a Windsor & Newton Regency Gold 520 #2 to paint my lily pads and a Windsor & Newton Regency Gold 540 #1 liner to paint the shadows.

Painting the lily pad shadow. Note the piece of paper used under my brush hand to protect the painting. Gouache is water based paint.

A close-up of me painting the lily pad shadow with my Windsor & Newton Regency Gold 540 #1.

Here is the Great Blue Heron painting up to now. We will finish it in the next post or two.

December 9, 2014September 24, 2018

Drawing and Painting Feathers On A Great Blue Heron

Painting over the pencil lines drawn for the feathers.

Drawing and Painting Feathers On A Great Blue Heron. I’ll draw the feathers on our Great Blue Heron using a 2H pencil. I chose a 2H because it is not too hard or too soft. Pencils like HBs or Bs tend to leave a mess and too soft for my liking. Harder pencils like 2H or 4H are much cleaner. However, they are still soft enough to make a visible line you can paint on. I always use a sheet of paper under my drawing and painting hand to prevent the oils from my skin from damaging the surface.

Painting on the Pencil Lines

Using a Windsor & Newton Regency Gold 540 brush, I paint over the pencil lines with a blue gray color that is darker than the heron’s base color. After the paint is dry, I take an eraser and erase any part of the pencil lines still visible. After I erase the pencil, I go back with the Regency Gold 540 liner and smooth out the lines for the feathers.

Here is the heron with the feathers drawn in pencil.

A close-up of me painting the pencil feather lines with my Windsor & Newton Regency Gold 540.

Erasing the leftover pencil lines by using a kneaded eraser.

The outlines for the feathers are complete.