Progress of Bev's Humming Bird

Progression of a painting.  

Have you ever wondered what goes on in an artists head?

Day1, hiding the white and laying in the first color

Day 1

     For this painting, the first step was to get some color down and do with style.  I toned my board with a earthen reddish color - I like to get rid of the white right away.  For the completed painting, I knew I wanted yellow as my strongest color so from this first thought my pallet of colors are all chosen, yellow - orange- reds with a bit of blues and purples. I see these colors in my mind.  It probably sounds like I'm choosing all the colors in the rainbow but green but there's more to it than that.  The purple is key.  Purple is an opposite to yellow so the more soft purple I have the more vibrant and beautiful my yellow will seem.  This is color theory 101.  The blues compliment the purple, the reds compliment the yellows.  Now to put the colors on with style.  Well, there wasn't really much style going on, It was just me and my pallet knife.

Da1, getting the color nailed down on the background.

     Here you can see me start to bring in the yellow.  At this stage it is actually a very dirty yellow, it just "looks" like nice yellow because of the colors around it.  If I would put a blob of this yellow color on a white back ground though you would think I was painting with the fancy kind of mustard -the kind with little bits of whatever floating in it.  Yep, not very pretty on the pallet.  To help me judge this yellow I drop in the beginning of the flower in with blues and purples.  This image is actually at the end of the first sitting, maybe 2 hours into the painting - if that.  But I see where it's going and I'm happy with it so I let it set up over night.  I do use an alkyd white and alkyd yellow to help the painting set up faster than normal oils.  The alkyds and the earth tones are key to getting oils done quickly.  Do you see the spot of bright yellow near the top right of the flower?  It looks bright Huh? Keep your eye on this spot.

Day 2

Day 2 blocking in humming bird

     Back at it.  Now I start to bring in hints of the humming bird, I add more to the flower and am constantly adjusting the background.  In the background adjustments, I am balancing richer color with what I expect the hummingbird to look like - as seen in my mind.  Do you still see that bit of yellow next to the flower? it is beginning to look less bright, right?  The cool pinkish color added next to it did this along with the lighter colors on the flower.  These additions make the yellow less intense.  Other things to see - the shadows from the flower pedals, the color on the birds belly.  I'm almost an hour and a half into this days work now.

Day 2, almost done.

     Here we are at the end my painting session for day two.  For the day, I'm little over 3 hours in, not long at all.  I still have lots of tie to work on other things.  But this painting is complete, except for the final highlights and last minute adjustments.  I just want to let it rest and get my mind off of it for a couple of days.  Do you still see that spot of yellow near the top right of the flower?  It used to be the brightest spot on the painting.  I haven't touched it.  It's still the same color as when I first touched paint brush to canvas. The brightest yellow now, up and to the left of the hummingbirds head, is a spot of pure yellow.  To tie everything together, I have put a lot of little color bits all over.  The orange from the hummingbirds neck is also to the left of the flower, in the background.  The red on the hummingbirds neck mimics the red in the flowers center and appears in the background as well.  Controlling this type of color is fun.  It's what keeps me coming back for more.

Day 3

Beverly's Hummingbird, 11x14, Oil on Wood Panel

Final shot of Bev's Hummingbird taken with my camera (not my phone) just before it was wrapped up for shipment.  This little guys home is in Oregon now.  He brightens up the room on all the cold, overcast, rainy days up there.

Larry