Flying Duck Watercolour - Simplifying Patterns and Wings

1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Nadine thanks for joining me for the lesson today we're going to be painting a flying duck. There are two main points really for this painting today. This lesson. One is handling patterns. I want to convince you that even if you've got a subject that's got lots of spots and stripes and detail in it. You don't have to paint all of that in to make a convincing painting. And so for this particular one of the striping in here, we're going to be doing wet in wet. so really learning how much water on the page, how much water on your palette and in your brush so that when you put those marks in, they don't spread through the whole piece, they just stay and form a nice little soft bleed around the edges. The other thing is, is the wings when you're painting a flying subject. So I paint a lot of flying birds. And really the important thing to get in here is that feeling of movement and light, so retaining the light. Is really important. And this is very much a one hit you go on and you live with what you get. So it can be a little bit daunting because you know that you really only get one shot but. It is really simple to do if you stop yourself fiddling and trying to muck around with it. So what we'll do is we'll go through the materials, go through the reference photo and the sketch, and then it's broken down into lots of little parts so that you can go step-by-step to complete the painting. And hopefully by the end of it, you're happy with what you've produced. 2. Materials: We'll go through the materials that you're going to need for the class first up. So to start with the paper, I'm using 300 gram Arches cold press paper. I paint pretty much exclusively on arches. But if you have a favourite brand of paper by all means, use that. Just make sure you use a good quality paper. If you use a really cheap brand, you'll probably find that you get frustrated pretty quickly. Now, I do have the paper on a board, but I don't tend to tape down if you don't like the buckling while you're painting, then just paint or spray the front and the back with clean water, tape it to a board and let it completely dry. The sketch. The reference photo for this is from Pexels. You can download it from the Skillshare site. So there's the photo and I've also included a template. Now I've kept this for ease of the lesson. I've actually kept it at an A4 size, I would say though, it is actually much easier to paint bigger than it is smaller. So if you'd rather paint bigger, by all means, go ahead. I'm going to use a HB pencil and just a normal eraser. And then for the paints, I've got a mix of Daniel Smith and Winsor and Newton that I'm going to use for this for the orange in the beak and the feet. I've got some Daniel Smith pyrol red and some Daniel Smith hansa medium, hansa, yellow medium. It doesn't really matter what yellow and red you have, whatever you've got, I'm sure it'll be fine. These are just two that I use a lot, but don't rush out and buy those. For the body of the bird. I'm using Daniel Smith, Van dyck brown. You could use burnt umber, but this is a nice paint to work with. And I've also got some Daniel Smith indigo. And I do prefer Daniel Smith for the indigo because it's a really nice dark, dark blue. I've got a couple of Winsor and Newton paints as well. So yellow ochre, you could use raw sienna and burnt sienna as well. The only other one I'm using is some white gouache. So just for the highlight in the eye and the top of the beak, I've got some art spectrum white gouache The brand doesn't matter. You could use if you don't have gouache, you could use some china white or titanium. Would be fine also the brushes I have I'm using three, not for any particular reason. You don't really need three. I tend to alternate between these two. I like Neef, you've probably got a favourite brand. These are a squirrel taklon mix. These two bigger ones are a series for 4750 LP and I've got a size 8 and 10. And I like these because they hold a lot of paint and water. Whatever paintbrush you pick for this You just want to make sure that it comes to a nice point because it's the shape of the brush that is going to determine the shape of these feathers. So if I used a round brush, for example, if I use this one when I pushed down to do my wing tips, I'd get a really blunted shape. So just check what shape your brush is making before you decide which one to use. And then I've also just got a little size 2 synthetic for the detail on some of the tighter areas. Other than that, you'll need your palette, jar of water and some tissue. And I think we're probably right to start off with the sketch. 3. Sketching Up: First up with the sketch. So we're not going to go too detailed in this I know there's a lot of patterning through the bird. We don't have to worry about that. We're going to suggest that with the paint. So really all I need is a light outline with a HB pencil. I'm paying attention to this lovely shape down here, I am giving myself this little wedge because I want to leave some white paper in here. So I've drawn that in on the wings. I'm not worrying, It's quite fussy around here. I'm not worrying about that. I'm just giving myself the main outline of each wing. I'm not drawing, I'm not counting particularly not drawing everything in. Just really want to know where those wing tips end. On the face. Be careful with the beak shape and pop in the position of the eye. I've actually probably really when I look. There's probably a little bit of a line that comes down here. I've come straight across, it's not going to matter. No one's really going to be looking at the reference and the, painting at the same time. And then with the feet. I don't often do feet, but with these feet don't get too caught up again on the detail. Give yourself a basic outline of the shape. We're going to really rely on the shape of the brush to do that. That's all for the sketch. Keep it simple. I would encourage you to sketch it yourself if you get sick of that and it's not working for you. I have also included a template that you can download and use. And with that you can either use a light box or you can flip it and use tracing paper and go straight onto your paper. I think we're probably ready to start painting. 4. First Wash on Beak: We're going to start with an orange wash in the beak. I'm not going to worry about the blacks in there yet. We're just going to put a flat wash over the top. I'm going to use some Hansa yellow and some pyrol red. And just when you're using yellows, make sure that your water and your brush is really, really clean. It's very easy to get mucky with yellows. I've got some yellow there bit of red going to make a little puddle in my well, I'm making it fairly milky. Initially. Come straight onto dry paper, take off the excess off my brush. That's quite a lot of water I've got on there. Being careful to come to my pencil line. Pretty soft, pretty light. I'm not going to fiddle in there. I'm just going to let that dry while I've got this small synthetic out, I'm going to paint a pupil in. Clean my brush. I'm just going to grab some indigo. Really solid. so not very much water in the palette or the brush. Simple as that. I'm just going to let that dry. 5. Wings: We're going to get the bit that freaks everyone out out of the way first. So we're going to start in the wings. We want that sense of light through the wings and movement. So we really don't want to get fussy and heavy in here. And I want a mix of hard edges and soft bleeds. So I'm going to take my bigger brush, my size ten Neef here, I'm going to get clean water. I'm going to paint some water patchily, just in this part of the wing. Come to my pencil edge. I'll hold it up in a minute. I'm not coming up into the tip here, just through there. So if I hold that up, you can see I've got a few puddles I've got a reasonable amount of water on there. Then what I'm going to do, I'm going to take some I've got some yellow ochre in my well here. I'm just going to get a bit of a milky bit of yellow ochre and into that wet page, I'm just going to drop some yellow ochre. Now, if there are too many hard edges. I've just grabbed a bit more water. I'm just chucking that on the page so patchy wet. Is what I'm after. I'm just going to drag that out to that line. Okay. So we've got wet, patchily wet paper here with some yellow ochre in it. I'm dry along these wing tips. So now what I want to do, I've got some freshly squeezed out Van Dyke, I'm going to touch my brush into that really thick paint maybe a bit into some indigo as well. So I've got some blue and some brown. I'm going to come straight onto the page. Start with my tip and come into that wet. I'm just going to move down and I'm not going to pay attention to, my pencil where I drew those actual feathers. I'm just moving with the shape of the brush, all the way down. I'm not reloading my brush and I'm letting that paint bleed into where I've been wet. Now I want another little set of feathers in here while I'm not reloading the brush, but while this is wet, I'm just going to drop a bit more paint in. Then I'm going to come out and not fiddle with that. I do want to put a little bit of dark along here, but I'm going do that after. I just want all these little bleeds and cauliflowers, these blooms here to give me that sense of light through. The wing, now I want to do the same. I want to the other wing while I've got these colours out. And, I'm thinking of the same colours so that they match each other. So I'm going to wash my brush. Make sure it's clean. I don't want to touch these feathers are needed to stay out of those. I'm just going to pop a little bit of water, same sort of idea in here. Then I'm going to take a touch of yellow ochre so I haven't come all the way up to the tips. Touch of my yellow ochre in here. Wash my brush again. I'm just dragging that over so I don't have too many hard edges where this wing is meeting the other one, that just sort of disappear. Then I'm going to do the same thing picking up. I didn't really get I did touch to my indigo. I don't really have much blue in there, but I don't really mind. Now I've picked up my van dyck, I touched it to my indigo, so I've got both colours on my brush. Probably got more Van Dyke. I'm going to do the same thing. So starting on the dry page, pulling into the wet, not really worrying too much about my pencil. Paying more attention to the shape that my brush is making what I am going to do. I've got this little divot here, so I'm just going to tidy up that so I've got a straight line coming into there. Then I have to come out of that and let that do whatever it wants to do. So I don't want to fiddle in there. Stop myself doing that. I'm going to put my brush down and come out. 6. First Wash on Body: I'm dry in here now what I'm going to do is take my same size brush. I'm still using my larger brush and I'm going to come in I'm going to wet down this part of the body with some water first, I'm not going to touch that wing. Just at the moment. I'm coming into just where that pale yellow ochre is there I'm not going to touch that Van Dyck brown just in case I'm not dry. I'm going to paint with water, that back part, but I'm leaving this white gap. I'm painting in here underneath. More water. Again. I'll pick it up and show you so you can see how wet I am all the way through neck, the chest, the face. I didn't mean to touch my indigo there. That's still going to bleed. It's dry but indigo bleeds for a long time. I am going to put more darks in there later, so I'm not too worried that that's bled a bit. My page is see I'm not, so I'm not as wet as it was up here. I'm just a bit damp now I'm going to take some yellow ochre. Start with my yellow ochre and I'm just going to drop that into the wet page. Bring it out to my pencil edge. Now I haven't backed off my pencil edges here. Pencil underneath yellow ochre can be quite hard to get off. So if I was painting this for myself, I probably would have made those pencil lines a little bit lighter before I started to put the paint on. But I want you to be able to see where I'm going. I want to keep this as really milky, this wash. I don't want really heavy ochre. I'm pretty much I've wet down the page now I'm wetting it down with some yellow ochre and then I'm going to drop some other colours in coming all the way to my beak. If the paint isn't moving, you're not wet enough. And pick up a bit more yellow ochre and into that back. It will also depend how warm your room is. My page now is a bit yellow. While that's all wet. I'm going to drag some burnt sienna through, I'm going to pick up some burnt sienna. I'm just going to drop it roughly I'm not overthinking that. I'm just thinking I want a little bit of burnt sienna around the place. Down the bottom here under his tummy. I'm just going to drag a little bit along that line. Clean my brush. Just make sure that my pigment is coming all the way out to that pencil edge. All wet in wet. Now I'm going to bring a little bit up I think up into the face. I'm still damp. Now I am looking, I want some of this burnt sienna probably to move up just to touch into that wing. I'm just dragging a little bit of paint. Just up into his armpit. It's starting to dry. Still a little bit of wet while there's some moisture in the page. Now I'm going to go into really solid Van Dyck. I'm going to walk and I'm looking at these, all this striping here that I don't want to get carried away with, but I want to put some patterning in. I'm gonna while the page is still wet with the tip of my brush, I'm just going to drag some darks through and I'm really not, I'm not looking at the pattern on the bird all I'm thinking of is I need some darks that are going to bleed out into this wet page. Come up. I might put some on the front under his neck here. Just picked up a bit more paint, a couple of more solid ones. Now I can feel myself starting to hesitate trying to figure out where to go next. So this is just the first layer, so I need to come out of that and let that dry. 7. Tail and Beak: Now while that's all drying, I'm not quite wet in there. That's going to take about ten minutes to dry fully. While that's drying, I'm going to come in and do a couple of little brushstrokes to suggest this tail here. For that, I'm going to go back to my smaller synthetic. I'm going to pick up some really thick so creamy to toothpaste, Van Dyck brown. Going to have a quick look at the reference not get too fussed. Then think what i'm, I'm just going to paint a few lines on. So here I need a bit more. I'm after that mix of the dry brush strokes in there that might be a bit too much dry brush strokes. So I'm just going to pick up a bit more paint. Maybe. That one. That's all I'm going to do for that tail. I'm just going to let that dry. Then I'm going to come up to the beak. Wash my brush. I'm going to paint with water. That part of the beak that's black. So I'm not paying too much attention to the reference. So completely dry in here. I've just dropped a bit of water in there. I'm going to pick up a little bit of indigo. I'm going to drop that paint. Not enough indigo into the bottom of the beak. Need more pigment than that. So I would rather build up to the pigment than go too dark initially, but my paint, my palette is pretty dry there. Come in again, there we go, That's better. Sort of comes. I've now hit the dry paper here, keeping a little bit more light, so a little bit more, less pigment, sorry, on the top of the beak. And I'm going to just drag that shape down. Wash my brush again, take off the excess water. I'm just going to drag my damp clean brush through the top of that indigo. Because eventually what I'm going to want a bit more light in the top. Wash my brush again. I'm being careful but I've got less water in my brush than on my page. Then I'm going to drag that along the bottom. I'm just going to soften where I came into underneath the chin there. So I've just wet my brush and I'm just dragging it through. There are lots of darks to go under there. I'm just playing with that shape. And I'm going to drag that dark down to the bottom of that beak there as well. But I can feel that I'm starting to fiddle, so I need to stop that and come out and let that fully dry. 8. Feet: I'm going to just pop the feet in while this is still I still haven't had my ten minutes yet. This still isn't quite dry. I'm reasonably dry here. I can touch that without any water coming up any pigment coming up. I'm going to take my brush. I've gone back to my, and actually this is my size eight, so slightly smaller. I'm going to just paint a bit of water just in the top where that foot comes into the, comes into the body, I'm going to pick up a bit of orange. So I'm going to use the same mix that I had in the beak. A little bit of yellow and little bit of red, fairly milky, milky to creamy, and test it on my page first. And then I'm using the shape of the brush here. I'm going to push down and come up into that and drag the front of that foot and then maybe a bit sharper on that one. Then the one behind, same thing. Push my brush down and just get a bit of a shape in. I want it to be clean. I don't want to fiddle and worry too much about all the detail. What I am going to do, I've just taken all the excess off my brush. I've got a bit of a pool of pigment there of water, so I'm just going to back that off. Then I'm going to blend that orange just a bit more into that shape. Just practice it first on a piece of paper so that you're happy with the shape that your brush is going to make and then come out and let that dry. 9. Starting the Darks: Now there isn't enough patterning on this yet, but I want to start to work on some of the darks before I add too much pattern because I don't want to lose all my lights. We're going to start in the back of the bird here. I'm going to make a bit of a shadow underneath this wing. I'm taking my, what have I got? I'm still with my size eight, so the same one I did the feet with I'm going to take water. I'm just going to paint the back here. I'm going to chisel out effectively. The shape of this wing over the back. I'm going to let that water tease down maybe to around here. And you'll see when I put the pigment on what happens. So now I'm going to pick up really thick Van Dyck brown toothpaste consistency I'm going to drop that. didn't get enough paint into that wet area. I'm just realizing the reason this brush the tips gone a bit cactus. So I'm going to go to my bigger one not because I need more area, but I need I need a better point than that one was giving me. I'm just going to tease that down into where I've wet the page and bring that kind of underneath. I'm thinking where his armpit is. Basically is there, take the excess off my brush. I'm just teasing it along that wet edge. And now by doing that, I've lost a lot of my pigment. Come back in, get more paint, really thick paint and drop that into that wet page. Chiseling out my shape and letting that pigment run back down. So I get a graduation of dark to light tone. Now this will dry a lot lighter. We might have to strengthen it up, which is fine. I'm just really thinking about the shape and how I want it to look. In this first set of darks. I'm going to wash my brush again. Take off the excess. I'm just running my damp brush just along with that dark's meeting the dry paper. I'm doing that because I want a soft transition. And what I don't want to do at this point is introduce more water into there. That's starting to give me the shadow on the back. Now I want to, I'm not really going to follow the reference actually. Now I'm going to round him up under his tummy. I'm going to do the same thing again. Wet brush, I'm sticking with my big one that's got the nice point now. Coming underneath those tail feathers on wetting down under his tummy. Coming up along my pencil edge. I'm not saturated here, I'm just damp so I don't have puddles of water. I'm just getting the page a little bit damp so you can see I've got a reasonable amount of water but I don't have big pools here. While that stamp, I'm going to pick up my van dyck my van dyck. is a bit dry so I'll put a bit more water in there and then drop that dark into that wet. Then I'm going to wash my brush just to get off. I don't want to introduce too much pigment, too much water here. While this is wet I'm going to make sure I tease that out to my pencil edge. I'm going to tease it probably just up to around this little bulge in the chest here. Bring that up now because I'm teasing that to the edge. I'm now diluting my pigment a bit. so while this page is still wet, I'm going to drop some more pigment in. I'm going to grab solid van dyck creamy Van dyck. And down in this right along the bottom here. Again, remembering that this will dry lighter. I don't want to end in a hard edge, so I'm letting this wick up and softly transition. Make sure so I can see I haven't come all the way to the edge of that first wash. I don't want little flashes of light underneath the tummy. washing my brush. Now, flicking paint everywhere, I'm going to wash my brush and take off all that excess water. Just going to drag my brush just along the edge just to soften that wash into the wash underneath. I've let a little bit of brown, to just tease, just a touch of brown teased into the top of that leg there. The last one. Before we let this dry, we'll start in the top of the neck here. Same idea. Again, not following the reference, doing what works. for what I've got in front of me. So I'm painting under the neck there with water. I'm not touching really where I was wet. there staying out of that up to the beak and damp, not soaking creamy mix of my van dyck. and just drop that in and making sure that I come to the edge though I might actually switch to my smaller brush now, just to make sure I can, it's a little bit tighter in here, making sure I get the shape right. Bring that all the way to the beak. And I've just washed my brush and I'm just softening the edge. Just dragging it up, just a touch. I'm going to wash my brush again, take off the excess water, and run my brush along where my wet page meets my dry page just softening that shadow back. Not introducing more water at this point. Now because I've been softening that edge back. I've kind of, I've diluted my pigment quite a bit, as I've been doing that. So just into this bit , under the neck, take my small brush again. Really creamy paint. The Van dyck going to drop that in. While that page is still wet. Wash my brush and just run it again. So the same thing, I'm just strengthening my pigment then it's probably once I've got this one on, It's time to get out and let that fully dry before I do anything disastrous. 10. A Bit More in the Beak and Wing: This isn't quite it's not been sitting quite five minutes, not quite dry. So I need to stay out of there. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to put a slight another wash of orange on here on the bottom half of the beak. So I'm going to take slightly richer now, bit more red in my yellow onto dry paper. Paint that in wash my brush, take off the excess water and just blend that in to the top, to the wash underneath so I have to take off the excess water off my brush and just push that in so I want it darker on the bottom than the top. And if when you've done that, that you've ended up taking off too much pigment I'm just going to grab a bit more paint and drop that in while it's still wet. I'm also going to strengthen I'm going to take I think a bit of indigo, so you might not be able to see it. My indigo is a little bit, I've got a little bit of light down here that I don't want. So I'm going to take really strong paint and I'm going to paint my tissue because I don't want a whole lot of excess water here. I'm just going to strengthen up. No, I have to careful not to touch too much into that. Alright, So you could wait until the orange is fully dry. I'm just living on the edge. I'm washing my brush, take off the excess water and just soften that. Just my indigo had dried a little bit too light. I'm washing my brush again, I'm just looking for that flash of light. On the top. I've got more pigment down the lower part of the beak. If you lose this highlight, we can put it back in later with some gouache no drama if you've gone too heavy. Okay, while I'm doing fiddly things, I'm just going to touch up, I think I want a little bit of a flash of something along this wing here. When I rub out that pencil line, there's not going to be much define what's there. I'm going to take my small synthetic. I'm going to paint down along that pencil line, pick up a little bit of my Van dyck. I didn't have enough water there. What I was after there was a bit of a bleed but my page is a bit dry. I didn't I'm just going to grab some water along. I'm just running my brush. I don't want to paint a whole line. I want a mix of broken broken strokes there. But I just need a bit of something to show me where the edge of that wing is. The idea I didn't wet enough. I had a bit too much dry paper there. I just want to bit of a varied edge in there. 11. Building up the Pattern: I think I'm going to warm up the face a bit now and work around this part of the bird. So I'm going to take I think I'm going to stick with my small synthetic. I'm going to paint down with some water. Damp, not saturated around the eye, the top of the head there. Bring that down just into the front of the chest. I'm going to pick up a little bit of yellow ochre milky, yellow ochre. Just going to drop that in. I'm going to tease that around the eye, the front of the head. Wetting the page first it lets me get a little bit further. and I don't get the streakiness. Now while I'm just going to, I'm just dragging that effectively water just down a little bit further than my pigment has gone. Now, while this is wet, I'm going to pick up some Van Dyck brown. Get more water in there. I want this not too wet. So I'm going to paint my tissue, come up to the eye. And I'm just painting a ring of Van Dyck around that eye. And I'm just dragging some down along the join of the beak to the front of the face. So I'm going to wash my brush. I'm going to run my damp brush along that line that I just put in. Get it to move a little bit. Just want a touch of definition where that beak is. Then I'm going to wash my brush again with a damp clean brush. I'm just going to run it around that Van Dyck so I'm after a bit of something happening around the eye without really having to work too hard for it, down to the front of the face. Now I've got that little catch of light down here, which is going to hurt me, tease that through. So I'm going to pick a bit more Van Dyck up. While this page is wet. I'm going to restate that dark. so I'm just touching little bit of Van Dyck into that wet page, curving it a little bit there. All soft bleeds. What I'm after here. I'm still I'm still trying to retain a bit of light through the face. So that's why I'm working up to this not going on really hard, initially. Softly, softly, nice and yellow. Now there's also some patterning on the back of the neck here. So what I'm going to do, I think it's quite warm in my studio. That's already started to dry just while I've been talking. So I'm just going to dampen that down where I was with the yellow ochre again. Not soaking, just damp, pick up a little bit of milky to creamy Van Dyck. and I'm just going to drop a little bit in the back of the head there. Wash my brush. Just make sure I bring that up. to my pencil line. Now what I've just done there, I varied my brushstrokes a bit and I'm letting the water move that pigment around, wash my brush, and just soften that back. Now if, if you've softened it too much and that disappears, then while that page is still wet. Pick up some more paint. More of my Van Dyck and. Just drop that in to the wet page while it's nice and wet. I don't want to touch that. I want to let the water do whatever it wants to do with that. Then I think I'm going to think about same thing warming up a little bit of yellow ochre. in the body here. Same thing, paint down. I'm still using my little brush paint down with water. I'm going to grab a bit of yellow ochre. Drop that in. Move that around a bit. Bring it all the way to the edge of the chest there. I might bring a little bit up just into the front of that wing. I'm just going to put a bit of water on that front bit of the wing and just touching a bit more yellow ochre into there so I'm now damp all through here. I'm going to extend that down, I think just a little bit further. Now I'm going to add just another layer of stripes through here. So I'm going to pick up really thick, I might squeeze out some fresh, so my Van Dycks been sitting in my well for a long time and it's pretty dry now. so I'm going to squeeze out some fresh. Pick that up in in here where I'm wet. I'm going to restate a couple of those stripes getting smaller as I come up to the top, varying my, I'm trying to move through the shape, not staying in one place. Wash my brush. Just going to make sure theres a couple of those spots here that I've come up to my initial wash. This is to get the idea that there's some patterning through the duck without having to paint every stroke. And I'm relying on the shape of the brush. Now because I've put lots of yellow ochre through here. I'm looking at the back here and I reckon I can get a bit more the same colour through here. So same deal. Clean water painting down. I came out a little bit further than a I wanted to then painting down with water. I'm just conscious that I want all the areas of the duck to match, I guess, a bit of yellow ochre into that wet page. So it's nice and soft. I'm also going to paint down this time, so I've got the yellow ochre on the top there. I reckon I'm going to see I'm going to put a wash of, going onto dry paper, just a bit more yellow ochre on the bottom here. That's completely dry down there. I'm just putting a touch more. over the top. Then I've got this light. I got, I got a hard line over my leg here, so I'm just going to worry my brush, it's dry there. I'm going to worry my brush over there. Just so I don't, I had a really hard edge on that leg. So I'm just going to soften that back a bit. Now that light I might have too much light there, I'll let that dry and decide. I'm just sitting back. and I think I need a little bit more dark underneath here. So while that's all drying, before I stop and let you have a rest, I'm going strengthen my dark underneath here. I'm going to paint with water. A little bit damp there but nothing nothing alarming. Just a little bit more water in here. Then I'm just going to strengthen that dark. I've come on now with pretty thick Van Dyck. Wash my brush and tease that along. So I'm dry in the face there. So I want to smooth that line in. I'm washing my brush, smoothing it in. I'm just dragging it through to the front of the chest. There. 12. Finishing Up: So a couple of things I'm going to do first, I'm going to strengthen, give myself some variation in this orange. I'm going to take a little bit of water paint, just the top of the leg There both sides. Take a little bit more orange. I'm just going to touch my brush into that wet I just want a little bit more light and dark in there. Just a touch stronger. And in here, I need to strengthen the dark just underneath this part here. I'm actually going to take my small brush again and take some indigo. This time I'm dry there, I'm going to put that indigo underneath, wash my brush, take, paint a tissue to take off the excess water, and just drag my clean brush just along the edge to make it sit into the wash underneath. I'm going to strengthen, do the same thing underneath this wing so I'm completely dry up there. Take my indigo paint that on, clean my brush, dry it on the tissue. Drag that through. I want that dark underneath it to kind of match the dark, that I've got on the beak here. This is still too light. I'm still going to have to colour that in, but I'm going to come to the eye first so on the eye and the beak two little things to do here. Firstly, I'm going to put just a spot of gouache. I've got my tube or white gouache. I'm going to stick my brush straight in. Mine's a bit gluey because it's a bit dry put a tiny spot in the back of the eye there. Then I'm also now I don't really need to. I've got a bit of a highlight on the beak, but if you've lost that highlight, I'm going to, I've still got the white gouache on my brush. so I can drag that through, wash my brush, take off the excess, and then blend that in, keep washing my brush. Now, all I need to be careful of is that if I drag that gouache into the tip of the orange there, I'm going to drag the indigo with it. I've got to be a bit careful not to get grey on the tip of the beak there. Wash my brush. I'm trying to keep clean between my indigo area and my orange area. You just have to remember with gouache that once it's on, you can't get it off. So you need to be careful. Very nearly finished. I'm just going to two things I think because I put my indigo here, my indigo under there, I reckon I'm going to do the same thing here. I'm going to wash that Gouache off my brush. Take some indigo. I'm dry under the neck. I'm just trying to balance up that blue the blue of the indigo with the other places that I've got it. So drag that on, wash my brush. And I'm doing that same thing of teasing the wet edge with my clean brush so that I can get it to sit into the wash underneath. Down here. I'm just going to I'm going onto on dry here now, that light is bugging me. So I'm just going to drag I've got some Van Dyck. I'm just dragging it onto the dry page. Just to back that light off a bit. I've officially started into the fiddling phase, so I need to stop now. Hopefully what you can see is that although when you look at the reference, it's very patterend and very detailed through here. You don't need to get a lot of that in to suggest the idea of patterning, so you don't have to go overboard. It's just really important to get the suggestion of it. Get yourself a mix of dry strokes and soft bleeds and get some really dark darks in. I hope that at the end of it you've got something that you're happy with, rub off all the pencil marks, once it's completely dry, don't try and do it while it's still a little bit wet. If you'd like to when you finish post a pic for me on the site so that I can have a look and give you any feedback and thanks for joining me.