Transcripts
1. MAGPIES: Introduction: Hi there. My name
is Carrie McKenzie. I'm a professional artist, author undocked you to live in, in the beautiful
countryside of Yorkshire. This class is suitable
for All Levels. If you're a beginner, and
I've never painted before, I'll be guiding
you every step of the way throughout
the whole process. Will look at how to bleed
colors into each other. How to add layers of watercolour without creating
the dreaded mode. And how to add texture to a
branch and many, many more. So that at the end of the class, you'll have your own
beautiful little painting to be very proud of. I've discovered lots of tips and techniques and shortcuts
over the years. So just as in my in-person
face-to-face classes, I'll be sharing these
so that U2 can get the same benefits enjoy from painting that have helped me. A big believer in
learning by doing, rather than reading
lots of written theory. You'll be painting right
alongside me and my studio. As I demonstrate each process step-by-step and make
your learning a happy, Smiley, and practical
experience. Or if you prefer, you can
watch the video the whole way through and how they got
the painting afterwards. And of course, you can pause
and rewind it at anytime. I provided a reference
photograph and also the drawing for
you to download. Now don't worry about
trace in the drawing because this course is about
painting, not drawing. You can see examples of
my work on my website. My style leans towards
impressionistic and contemporary rather
than photorealistic. I like to explore
loose approaches that bring out the color, light, and essence
of my subjects. I'm delighted to be able to
share with you my experience, tips and techniques that I've learned along the way
in my own Art journey. Importantly, the
most valuable asset is your own time,
patients and enthusiasm. There's no such thing as right or wrong or failure in Art. It's all about
learning and growth. Learning what worked well, practicing what you
need to improve on, and moving forward
with each step. Please don't worry
if your painting doesn't look exactly like mine. Lowry never worried
whether he's looked like Van Golf of Picasso's. We all have our
own unique style, just like our fingerprints. And with that understanding, It's time to get on
with the painting
2. Composition; Drawing; Materials; Masking; Top bodies and Wings; Wet-on Dry Technique; Ble: Hi, thank you for joining
me in my studio today. We're going to share
with you my tips and techniques for painting these
gorgeous little Magpies. I do hope the title
Two for Joy does bring you a very enjoyable
paints and experience. I've listed the colors in the
materials that I'm using. That don't worry, it's perfectly okay to use the ones
that you've already got. I've used a different
reference photograph for each Magpie. Then I've used an
imaging software to size them, to position them. Slightly simplify the
one on the right, particularly, he's
very feathery chest. And then I've added some imaginary branches
to suit the composition. I'm going to apply
some masking fluid to the shapes where I want
to reserve some white paper. The highlights later on. You do need to wait for
the fluid to dry fully before you can apply
paint over it, but that just takes
about 10:15 minutes. The masking fluid is removed. It leaves crisp
defined white shapes. And if these are Two stock, you can soften them with a damp brush or
even paint over it. I use PBO blue masking
fluid because you can very easily see where you've puts it and it also rubs off, well, I'm using an
unwound paperclip. It's relatively free tool, very useful for applying very
fine dots are fine lines. I'm just stroking
over now a few of the light highlights in the feathers on the little
bird's body on the right. I'm using a downward movement in the direction that the
feathers are spreading. Doing the same thing on the
little bird on the left. I'm not going over
every single feather, just adding a few
little highlights if that is here and there, where I need to convey that
Downy effect on the chest. And doing this just
saves you having two Paint Round very, very tiny little
feathers that would take a long time to do by hand. Just adding a little touch on their legs to catch the highlight where
the light is shining. And I'll leave that to dry now before starting
the painting. I'm starting with the
Magpie on the right. And I've got some
dilute Prussian blue next in my palette. Pushing blue is quite
an intense color. So at this stage, we don't want it too neat. So about the consistency
of the skimmed milk. I'm brushing it in the direction of the feathers
using little strokes, again to indicate the size and shapes of those
feathers coming down. A bit of care around the
eye and coming around the beak shape in the feathers around the back. I'm leaving little bits of
diluted paint here and then the Variety shaping the
top of the chest area. Because the color
block is of course, made up of all
these other colors, primarily the three primaries, red, blue, and yellow. And I have found that
if you just apply black straight out of the tube, it tends to dry
looking really dull, blonde and not lively. And that's not what we want in our colourful little
Magpie painting. I've just finished off
really using the blue color. And now I'm going to add in
some ultramarine violet. Again, if you don't have
this particular color, you could add a
little purple color that you already have to
your blue that you're using. Or you could add a
little bit of red. So the blue and mix
your own purple Again, this, this violet color will just add some interests and colour so that Black
overall appearance. I'm also adding
in little bits of the Kubrick green that's kind of very similar to viridian. Or you could add a
little blue to green, you've gotten, give it
some more turquoise. They look just touching these
colors in here, in there. Now I'm going to add in
some fairly neat pins. Gray. The Payne's gray I'm using has got a
blue all the tune. So that fits harmoniously with the colors
that I've already used and come around the top
of the head, around the eye. And this will help to give the shape of the
Magpie more form. It will show the rounded
surface of the head. I'm going down the back. So it gives it that
more 3D effect. And also it's showing the shadows in the
feather area up here. I'm still using very
light feathery strokes, working in the direction that the feathers are
naturally growing. I keep looking at
the reference photo to check where these are. Just highlighting the dark
areas in the back wing. It starting to get an overall
look of been blue black, but still allowing some of those colors to show through
the dark Payne's gray. If you do find that you've accidentally added a bit
too much of the dark gray. You can always like
knitr bit lifted off with some kitchen towel. Don't be afraid to remedy any
mistakes as you go along. People who say that
watercolour is very unforgiving and that is true to a point that
there are things you can do to amend things. Is she going along important
thing now of course, is not to fiddle too
much and leave it alone. I'm repeating exactly the
same process and using exactly the same colours
for the Magpie on the left, starting out with
the Prussian blue and taking over the
head and down the back. Have forgotten just to add a few dark feathers coming over the white area on the weighing of the
Magpie on the right. So I'm just used in a pencil
to pull some of that paint is still wet down over the
white area of the wing. So returning to the little
Magpie on the left again. Taking that Prussian blue around the beak area and down
into the put the chest. There are some subtle
differences in the color in-between each bird
and the white area. On the top of the wing of this little bird on the left
is a very different shape, almost triangular to
the one on the right. Although at first glance
these little birds appear to look very
much the same. In fact, they are
just like humans. They've got their own little
unique characteristics. It's important when
put in to Birds into one painting to make sure that there are some
subtle differences, as well as similarities. Just as I did before, I'm adding in some of
that ultramarine violet, some of the cube root green. And going in to strengthen the color
with the Payne's gray. Again, using this darker color to model the shape to give you that 3D form and show that the little
bird is quite rounded. Also using the
darker color to show the shadows where they appear going down the back
and the top of the wing. And this time I'm remembering
to just use my pencil, flicks and little Fine feathers over that white area at
the top of the wing. I think that's it for
that particular step. So I'm going to
leave those to dry
3. Paint the lower bodies and tail feathers; Lift Paint Off Technique; Darken tone for a 3D : Am I doing a few
different colors into the painting now I'm
using iridescent blue, which is by Daniel Smith. Now if you don't
have that color, you could use cobalt blue or cerulean for the lighter blue
color in the tail feathers. And again, I'm applying
the paint wet on dry. Haven't pretty wet
the paper first. I'm just using my brush
To Kill a little tip of the brush to come down
these little back feathers. And when feathers, again, thinking about the direction
that the feathers that grow in and following that
direction with not brush. So you don't want to be
going across horizontally. You want to be
brushing in as sorts of downwards diagonal direction. The near Magpie comes
from two words. Mag meaning to chatter and pi, referring to the pied
plumage of the bird. Because many years ago, pied was used to describe things that were a whole
mixture of colors. So put together, Magpie
refers to a bird with iridescent black plumage
with a hue of purple, blue, and green colors, who also engages in loud
and constant chattering. The area that we
are painting now is where the little Magpie
really starts to show off. It's wonderful,
colourful plumage. I'm going to start adding
in some extra colors. I'm adding in some
hansa yellow light. If you don't have that color. Another light yellow color. We'll do our eolian
or lemon yellow by placing it on top of the blue color that's
already there. We're actually getting
this very nice. Did it green color
showing through. I'm also adding some
touches of cobalt violet. Again, make your own
with some blue and pink if you don't have a
ready-made violet to hand. Just be careful not to put the violet over the
top of the green because you'll start to get
the dreaded brown mud color. So keep these colors
are separate as she can on the painting. I'm stroking these different
colors in here and they're allowing
them to blend and mingle in the wet underlying
wash of blue that we put some first intensifying
them when needed. And I'm going to use the pencil again to just flick out some of that color on the wing where it overlaps the
white on the breast. Because the paint is wet, the pencil will just
drag that color down. So you shouldn't get
actual gray pencil lines. It will bring that color over
the top of the white area. Although we're adding in
these different colors, it's important to remember that this area is predominantly blue, but it is much lighter
on the top half of the bird that we painted
in the previous step. I think I'm fairly happy now with the colors
that I've got tone. I can always come back
to it and glaze over some more colors
if I need to do. But I think at this stage, if I start to dribbling
anymore colours, it's going to start
looking fiddly an essay. I'm going to be using
exactly the same colours and process for the little
Magpie on the right now, because you've already seen
me do it at length in speed in this section of the
video up a little bit. As you can see, I'm applying the iridescent blue again
as a base color. This little Magpie
has got a sliver of white running down
the wing area. So I'm just mindful that I
don't want all the paint that I refer back to
the reference photo. If you need a bit
of guidance there. I'm just as I did before, I'm adding in some
of my cobalt violet, letting that Ron and mingle. And some of my
hansa yellow light, which will give me that
nice vivid green color. Magpies are actually highly intelligent
birds and inquisitive. They can use tools that
can work in teams. They play games, and they even have been known
to mimic human speech. They do usually mate for life. So when you see a single
Magpie on its own, it might mean that
it's lost its mate Some people think that
that's where the origin of a single Magpie bringing
bad luck has come from. However, if you see
a group of Magpies, that actually could
mean it's going to bring you good
fortune and wealth. Apparently, if you are superstitious and you
do see a single Magpie, the best thing to do is
give it a wink or say, good morning, give
it some respect, and that will fend
off the bad luck. We don't need to worry
about any of that because we've got
a little Magpies, Two For Joy and
giving them lots of respect in our painting of them. To get back to the job in hand, I am just using a damp
brush to pull out some of the pigment from the
areas that we've just painted to show the gleam, the shine on those feathers. It may not look quite
right at the moment. In fact, it probably doesn't. But when we apply
some darker color, the shadows in-between
these feathers, it will definitely look
a lot more natural. So bear with it. And let's proceed
to the next step. So now we're going to paint
the glorious tail feathers. And I'm using the same colours, the iridescent blue, cobalt, violet, Hansa yellow,
and Payne's gray. Again, putting on
the first wash of blue and varying the tone in-between these feathers
by using a damp brush. Again, working in the
direction that diagonal downward stroke for
the tail feathers. And I'm going to add
in some hansa yellow light asserted before to make that lovely
light vibrant green. If I added in a green pigment, it would give me a
darker blue green, which is not really
what I'm after. So the light yellow on top of the blue just gives me
that perfect green. Again, varying the tone
using a damp brush to lift little bits
off here and there. And then dropping in
some cobalt violet. Let's in those colors mingle
just as we did before, but not overlap too much. So that we don't get that
dreaded muddy brown color by having too many
colors in one place. I've got my colors in place. I'm just going back and adenine little touches
of blue again, where I want to emphasize
the blue color. Again, variant tone, so that
I've got some dark areas, some light areas for contrast. As I said before, we
will be putting in some more definition and shadows between the feathers
are to later step. So don't worry too much about getting it too dark
at this stage, we need to retain
that lightness, that color, and vibrancy. Repeating the process. Again, the same colours,
same techniques. On the little Magpie
on the right. I'm actually just
filling in the top of his legs there as well that's showing underneath the wing. Forgot to do that on the
little Magpie on the left. So I'm going to have to go back to its in a
minute and do that. I've still got this
parents-in-law palette. To paint the little legs. I'm using some quiet
dilute, Payne's gray. And then I shall just touch
in the far side of each leg with some neater
Payne's gray just to give again those legs
a little bits of foam. And doing exactly the same thing for Mr. Magpie on the right
4. Add shading and definition to breast, beak, eyes and talons; Blending and Softening Techn: We need to add a little bit of shading to the
white breast areas. My Payne's gray is
erring on the blue side. So I feel it's appropriate. If you've got a very gray, black sorts of gray and award add a little
bits of blue to it. I'm just to make those shadow areas a bit more
lively than a dull gray. I'm not blocking in
any areas of shadow. I'm leaving little gaps
in-between the strokes. So the sum of the feathers are catching the light,
some orange shadow. I'm adding a little
bit of shadow to the top of the wing as well. Keeping the lights and free. Not going into happy, don't want to obliterate
lovely whites. I'm using the same color, the Payne's gray to
paint the beaks. I've got a little bit of
masking fluid that I've put on earlier
in-between the top and bottom beak so I
can paint right over that and not worry about it. I'm just touching in where the beak joins the head
with a damp brush and dry and some of that
darker color into the beak so that I
don't get a hard join. That point. That helps to make it look a
bit more natural. Not just stuck on I'm using the same
dilute wash. of Payne's gray to go over the entire eye. Again, it's not too dark. I will be let in
this dry and then going over the pupil area
with some very dark color. Later on, I got my little dots of white
masking fluid that dried. For the highlight in the eyes. I can just paint
right over that. I'm gently wetting the
head of Mrs. Magpie on the left and her upper
back with a soft brush, being very careful
not to lift off the paint that is already there. I'm not absolutely
silk in the paper. I'm just dampening so that the next application of
paint will blend in, in places to the under wash.
For my blue black color, I've added some lunar black, my Prussian blue, so that I've got a really dark blue black. You can see on the
reference for to where the very dark shades are. I've added the
intense dark pigment to the top of the head and coming round now just
underneath the beak and down the top
parts of the breast, darkening that area where the back meets the
top of the wing. And because the paper is
damp but not thoroughly wet, the paints is blending
in nicely to the underlying washed but
not running all over it. So that's still
allowing that color underneath to grow through. I've zoomed in so you can see this detail a little
bit more clearly. And I'm painting
underneath the top beak, just below the masking fluid. And then just teasing the
color out into that beak area. Just fine tuning that line around the breast just to
get it a little bit crisper. I'm adding the neat dark
pigment to the peeled pill. Again, I don't need
to worry about the highlights of the eye
because I've got that math. But I'm just checking
my time here. Don't rush this bit. It's a small area, so you need a tiny brush
with a good point. Just to get that
circular pupil shape. I'm being careful not to go into the gray circles surrounding the pupil of wet my brush and just slightly
dried it on some kitchen towel and blended in that line
underneath the top beak, which is pulling away
some more color. The color that's already there
from the lower chin area Doing the same thing
on the top beak, pulling away some of the
color that's already there into the beak so that you
get a more natural join. I'm adding some more neat color. So the underneath of the bottom beak to strengthen that make it
stand out a little more. And just keep touching in here in their places that
I think I've missed. Whenever I'm painting one area, I've still got my eye on
what's happening elsewhere. So repeating that process again for Mr. Magpie on the left. Again, just gently dampening the paper but not
lifting the color. So that could go in
with my dark color and it will just nicely blending without
obliterated that colour that under wash below. Checking my reference photograph every now and then again, just to check where those
darker areas are sitting. It's these darks, this contrast that really
makes the painting pop. Again using the small brush, but they detailed beak area. And for the eye, you think you've gone
too dark somewhere. You can just rinse your brush, just dry it off on some kitchen paper and
Lift a bit of color off. When we remove the masking fluid from the highlights in the eye. Later on, the eyes will
look extremely lively. Just take a moment to step
back and assess your own work. I feel I've gotten a little bit dense with the dark color. And there are some patches of light on the top of the head and one side where the light
is catching the birds. So I'm just dampening the paint and lifting off
with some kitchen towel. Yours might be absolutely fine. So only do this if you to need to recover some of
the light areas. We're going to add
the dark color in-between some of the
individual feathers. Now, if you haven't practiced Blending and Softening
a hard edge before, I do suggest you do that now, before doing this on
your actual painting. It's a simple but
effective technique where you use a damp brush to
pull the paint away from a hard edge and blend it
softly until the color disappears into the white of the paper or the
color around it. You can use Lost and Found
edges to help break up the softening line by taking a dump brush
away from the loan, then go back to it so that the edge is lost and
then found again. I hope you can see from this close-up view that I'm
painting a dark line in. Then using a damp brush to soften that line into
the underlying color. By blending the lines in. It avoids the painting
having heavy tram like lines across it that
don't look at all natural. Also, can you see how some of the lines that I'm painting
a thicker than others. So I've got a variety in
the width of the lines. Again, not making
them too uniform. And some of the lines are spaced further away
from the others. Some of the lines
that I'm painting, or rather broken and
perhaps a little ragged. They're not perfectly even. I think all these
methods combined helped to avoid a
static or natural look. I'm turning my attention
now to Mrs. Magpie, given her the same treatment Defining her feathers,
they are not exactly the same shape
as Mr. Magpie husbands. So again, remember to add
that uniqueness to each bird. Give them their own
little identity. Do have a look at the
reference photo as you don't have to be a slave
to the reference photo. In fact, some of it I am
making up now as I go along, just having a look at what I've got on my painting
in front of me. And what I think will
work and what won't work. Nobody's gonna
know if it doesn't absolutely match the
reference photo. And this is what makes
it your piece of Art. Although I'm only adding
small touches of paint here, it is making more of an impact. And that's because of the strong contrast between the dark color and
the lighter colors. So I am taking my time. I'm not rushing it. And I'm assessing where I need to leave
some hard edges for definition and where I need to just soften some
of those hard edges, blend them in so that we
get a more natural look. Moving on to the tail feathers. We're going to use exactly
the same technique. There won't be quiet as many
lines to blend and soften, but they will still need to be there and make that impact. Tip of the tail
feather is quite dark. And that adds to the definition. Do be careful that you don't
overdo the dark color. The last thing you want to do is to obliterate all the lovely, beautiful colors that
you've got on the feathers. Sometimes less is more. And it's always
worth just stepping back and taken a moment to have a look from a distance
at how much you've done. Because when you work in
very close up to you work, you don't always see
the full picture. You tend to be
concentrating just on that little bit that you are
painting at any one time. And of course, it's much
easier to go back and add some darks than
is to remove them. I'm taking the dark
color around the back of a little legs where
they are in shadow. And define them. Again. Just blend in that
dark color in so that it's not stuck on the back
like a spare piece of Lego. Using the point of my brush and just feathering it
up into the base of the chest area where the lights of feathers
join the dark ones. And again, trying to achieve
that more natural look. A little bit dark for me. So I've just wet my brush, dry it on some kitchen paper
and just dab in some of that dark color off to reveal the lighter blue underneath. I'm repeating exactly the
same process for Mr. Magpies, tail feathers, pine the dark, blending it in and feathering where it
needs the white breast Then it's really assessing
your own work at this point. Have a look at where do you
need to add some more darks? Where do you need to do some more blending if
it's a bit too stark? Do you need to add anymore of the color that you've put some previously or geoid and that needs to lift
some color off. I think it's especially useful
at a point like this to actually go and
have a cup of tea or walk around the
garden or something, get some fresh air and come
back to it with fresh. I could also hold your painting up in
front of the mirror. And looking at the reverse
image will often give you a lot of information
about what's working, what's not working, and
what you need to do next. I'm going to spend
the next minute or so just titillating
where I need to do and trying to avoid that
irresistible urge to fiddle. When you have finished
all your final editing, put it to one side and
leave it to dry completely. When it is fully dry, use a clean dry finger
or a potty rubber to carefully rub away the masking fluid from all the places
that you've put it. If the white areas
that you subsequently reveal look too
stark and unnatural, just use the same technique
that you've used before, the Blending and
Softening Technique and soften them in to the
surrounding under wash. Last thing to do in this
particular section is to use a black waterproof,
fine liner pen. I'm using a unit pin
size nought 0.1. That's a very fine nib. And I'm just using it to define the pupils of the eye and
the outer rim of the eye. It's such a small area
that although you could use a brush and some
very black paint, it will be quite tricky. The Magpies have very BD
black eyes, very striking. And that's why I want to
just highlight them with this black pen just to make them stand out a little bit more. I'm taking my time
here not rushing. They say the eyes of the
soul of a person or animal. So it's important to
get these bits right. Just defining the beak there. And I'm going on
to add a couple of little touches to
the legs and talons, particularly some
of the thigh area and the talons will disappear a bit when
we paint the branches. So putting those little
black marks in now will just ensure that they
still look defined. And I'm Chris, spin up that little area in
front of the breast, going back to the beat, just adding a little bit
of a hook there. Again, look at your own painting and only do what's necessary. Don't do absolutely
everything I'm doing. If yours is looking
perfectly alright?
5. Paint the Branch; Harmony & Variety; Use Spattering Technique to add abstract leaves to t: To give the paints in
a harmonious still, we're going to use all
the same colours for the branches that we have
used for the little Magpies. First of all, I'm brushing over the Branch has with well,
it should be clear. Water bit doesn't
look very clear, I think have got a bit of paint leftover on the
brush, but not to worry. So just painting over the
branches with some clear water. And if the little
feet do bleed a bit, That's perfect and fine and it'll blend it all in together. Then if you go over
the lines bit, it doesn't matter because I'm the branches are going to
look a bit irregular anyway. So that's the first branch wet. And I'm just going to wet
the second branch again, just going around a little feet. But as I said, it doesn't matter if you get
a bit of a bleed. It helps to set the feet in. And then I've got some
of the blue black color that are mixed earlier for
the Magpies in my palette. And it's a bit watery and I
want it a bit more dilute. So I've got that Prussian
blue and blue and black mixed together much
more dilute that when we used it for the Magpies. And I'm now just touching along the bottom edge of the Branch
in the foreground with my blue black mixture
and the cost they paper is wet from when we
brush the water in earlier. You can see that
that is bleeding in towards the center
of the Branch, leading still quite
a lot of it pale. So you want a bit of
a bleed but you don't want it to bleed right across. If you are not a fast worker, then you could do one
Branch at a time instead of doing the ball together
as I have done here. Now, just put in a little bit of extra paint in a few areas. So I don't want it to look completely uniform across
the whole of the Branch. So I want some areas
to be a bit lighter, some areas to be a bit darker. So the dub, dub in, into it can't think of another
word for what I'm doing, but it's certainly not creating
a harsh even solid line. Just the opposite. I'm now just pushing that
color across the top of the Branch so that that will bleed from
the top downwards. And that helps to give the
Branch a nice rounded form. And as before, we're
trying to convey the 3D effect of the Branch on what is
essentially a 2D paper. I'm shared in it a little
bit more underneath Mr. Magpie because
obviously there will be some shadow coming down
from his little body. A lot of this is intuitive. I'm just thinking about where do I need to add a bit more color? Where am I need to
take a little bit off? Where is it bleeding nicely. Now, I'm add in some more of the cobalt violet
that we used before, warming the Branch up a bit. Of course you do get
all these colors in trees and branches. Everybody thinks they
are gray or brown. But actually if you
look very closely, there's lots and lots of beautiful colors in
the bark of trees. I've got a bit of mossy
green mixed in the palette. Not quite sure where
that's come from, but that will do that. I'll be nice to convey some sort of mossy areas in the branches. I'm touching that in
again, not all over. A few little places
here in there. Again, that will give the Branch has a
little bit of warmth. The paper is still
quite wet from where I applied just
the plain water. So I'm able to keep adding in these colors without
getting lots of hard lines, were getting this nice
soft blended effect. Now I'm adding in some
Nita blue black color. I want to just strengthen the areas underneath the Branch. But again, I'm not stroking
in a long continuous line. Dub, dub in, touching in a bit of that
dark color here and there to get some variety
of tune, variety of color Whilst also conveying more
roundness into the Branch. Doing exactly the same on the
smaller branch at the back. Giving it a little
bit more definition. Needs to just look
at the join where the two branches meet and separate them with
some extra color. I feel we're missing some of the blue color really
that's in the Magpies. So now I'm adding in just the
Prussian blue on its own, not mixed with the black
just to get some more blue into the color
of the branches. Again, not everywhere. Little touches here and there. I think that helps to
tie the branches in more closely with the Birds and give that more harmonious appearance. And I'm going to use a pencil similar to the way
that we did before, for flicking out
the feathers to put some indents into the branches. Those marks that you
see in the bark. What happens is the
pencil mix indents into the paper and the pigments of
the paint floods into that, making it look darker. So it's quite an
effective little tool is a pencil for all
sorts of things. You do get a more natural
looking bark texture using pencil than putting on black lines with a black pen. Because the paint is still wet, you can pull out some
little tricky bits. Pencil, which will spread the paint into
those small areas. Just tearing they're not too much and certainly not uniform. You want them different
sizes, different shapes, different places will have lost some of the shadow
underneath a little bird areas, adding a little bit more
of my blue black color. The sum shared in just
under their little bodies. And also it helps to define where the tail
feathers start and end. So again, giving a little
bit more definition to the birds themselves. Stand back and have a look
at your own painting. And just have a look
at where you might need to strengthen
some of the tones. I'd a bit more color and lift any color off
where you've got it too dark because you want
some light parts as well where the branches
are catching the light. Use a bit of kitchen towel to double double lift
any Paint Off. Well, you need to turn my paper around so I
can more easily get to this small Branch
at the back here. And I'm just using
exactly the same process, painting over with
some clear water. First of all, while I've got
my paper in this position, I'm going to also tackle the small branch that disappears
behind Mr. Magpies tail. It can be a bit fiddly getting into these smaller branches. But if you use a brush with
a good point or a rigor, that will help you enormously. Even though they are small, you still want to achieve that rounded effect,
that 3D effect, by adding the darker
color on one side of each little Branch and allowing some paler color to
remain in the middle. Again, I'm not using continuous lines and
deepen and dabbing. Branches are very random. I'm just adding a couple of
tweaks here and there were I think we might have a
little bit more growth. We don't want the
branches to become the name focus of the painting. We want Magpies to
be the focal point. So don't put too much
detail into the branches. We don't want to
add too much detail because that will detract
from the detail in the birds. So I am keeping
them quiet loose. Adding little bits
of water would call soft detail here and there, but nothing to stop
there will standout and detract from our
main focal point, which is the Magpies. Now as you can see, I've turned my paper the
opposite way round. So that's a can easily reach these branches
on the other side. And that's one of
the reasons that personally I don't
tape my paper down. I know a lot of artists
like to do to do that. They like to stretch the
paper and keep it tip down. But I do like to be able
to jiggle the paper, turn it upside down and
move it around a lot. If my paper does buccal, I simply wait till it's dry. Turn it over and
spread the back with clear water than
sandwich it between some kitchen towel to boards and play some heavy
books on it overnight. And that usually works to treat to create the impression of some leaves on the branches. We're going to use the
Spattering Technique where paint is flicked onto the painting surface to produce interesting
textural effects. Just load your brush with some paints and you
can either shake the brush with a
risk flicking action to force the paint
onto the paper, or tap the brush with
your forefinger or with the second
brush that you will hold it in the opposite hand. Or if you're using a toothbrush
but very fine splatter, just rub your finger over the bristles to spread
the paint onto the paper. Larger brush you use, the bigger the spotter
shapes will be. Now I've just used hansa
yellow light to start with. Then spattered some
Prussian blue over the top, which has given me a nice
green here and there. And then spattered a little
cobalt violet into the mix. You don't need to go
overboard with this just to feel a little clusters of
Spata here and there will do
6. Tackle the Background. : The can be a bit of a
dilemma at this stage as to what to do
with the Background. No background at all
is usually used for study pieces or to draw
attention to a strong subject. So if you like the way that your painting looks right now, you don't have to
add a background. But personally, I do think
this particular painting needs a little something adding to the Background to cover
some of the whitespace. The first method I'm
going to show you is what I call a
partial background, where you would just add a
little bit of splatter or lose Background detail to provide
some context and contrast. The Background is exactly that. It's the Background,
it's distant. So before I add the spatter, I've just spread on
some clear water with no water sprayer so that when
I do splatter the paint on, I get a much softer
effect than when we spattered for the
leaves on the branches. That just helps to convey that more blurred, distant view. I have managed to spray
in-between and around the birds. But if you're worried about getting bodies of water
or paint on them, you could tear up some strips of paper towel and use them to
mask the Birds beforehand. So I've spotted a little
hansa yellow light and Prussian blue in this lower
part of the painting. And just also touching it in with not brush
here and there. And I'm like role
interval with a piece of crumpled paper towel
because I don't want to create any
specific shapes, just some loose
background imagery. I'm doing exactly
the same thing with the top part of the painting. It's still wet from where I sprayed with the water sprayer. And you can see that where the spatter is hitting
the water droplets, it's blending and
diluting quite nicely. So not standing out as much as the spatter that we
applied on the leaves. If you do get any
spotters on your birds, if you haven't must
than you can just dump them off with a
bit of paper towel. First of all, spattered on some very dilute Prussian blue to convey the sky color
behind the Birds. And I'm just adding in little
touches of cobalt violet. Again to tie in with the colors in the
rest of the painting, but also to adult
to the Variety. So that sky color. I'm just adding a
few small touches of hansa yellow light. This top area, the Nyquist and blurred
foliage in the background. And it also helps to harmonize with the rest of
the colors in the painting. I'm also using a clean, damp brush to just skim across
and dilute and blend any of the spatter that is
looking a little bit too harsh, hard and static. And to just blend
it more back into the surrounding white paper. I'm also very lightly brushing in some very dilute
Prussian blue to the top area of the painting to create a vignette
effect across the top, which will again help to concentrate the
focus on the Birds. And a little bits
of rock rolling with my crumpled up paper towel, which will just
help again to blend those colors into the
white background. Now you could have caused stop here at this point and not do anymore because we've got a nice painterly effect
in the background. Very loose and gives
the context of the sky. You could create a very full
and detailed background. And the problem with that is
that if mishandled can make the painting look too busy and confusing and detract
from the focal point. So I'm going to do what I call a fallen simple background, which will give us a
little bit more detail, but not all the shadow, and then focus the Magpies. I've turned my paper
upside down so that I can more easily access this
top part of the painting. I'm using a large brush
with a good point to very gently strokes and very clean clear water
over the sky area. I'm taking that time
around the little Magpies, bodies and heads and beaks Because I don't want the paint, let's say subsequently apply
to the sky to run over them. The paper that we are
wetting now still needs to rename dumb Paulette
when we apply the paint. So if you're not a fast worker, I suggest you work
it into halves. Have a look at the
information that I've provided on overlapping
large washes. Because you do need to
brush the water past the halfway mark in order
to avoid a hard line. Later on when you
apply the paint. By not painting right up to
the edge of the wet paper. That gives the paints and wet space to travel and diffuse. So when you apply the second wash of paint
to the other half, that overlapped area
isn't obvious and you get a nice soft blend
between the two halves. But I've managed to wet
my paper all in one girl. So I'm now going to work
very quickly to get some color while it's still
wet into the sky area. Now I have introduced another
color, cerulean blue, because I think that the Prussian blue would
be a little bit too heavy and dramatic for a
nice summary or spring sky. If you don't have some cerulean, you could use cobalt. I am going to use
the little bits of brushing just to again, tie in with the
colors that we've already got in the painting. You'll notice that I'm
not swishing the colors across the painting
from left to right. I'm rather using a
dip dab in approach, dropping the color in, really letting the wet paper soak up the pigment
from the brush. I'm using a very light touch
because the paper is wet. That color wherever
I'm dib dabbing it in is spreading and diffusing. So some of the little areas that I'm painting a
join in it with others. And you've also got some fluffy
white clouds in-between. And adding some touches of color around the edges of
the little Magpies, white breaths that
will help to make those white breast and out more because they've now
got some color. Contrast against. Don't be afraid to
pick your paper up a little bit about front side
to side and up and down. That'll help to spread
any little areas that are a bit reluctant to
diffuse and blend. You can carry on working like this whilst the
paper is still wet. But as soon as it starts to dry, you would get hard
lines in the sky, which is not what you want. So at that point, stop working, let it dry completely and then wet it again
before you carry on. Using the same process for the lower part of this
guy below the branches. I'm wetting the paper and
then adding the same colors. Mostly cerulean blue,
little touches of Prussian blue to
that lower area. But I'm also here adding a
little bit more of the hansa yellow light because under here there's probably going to
be some more foliage areas. If it's a bit heavy, but don't forget to use your rack role in Technique with the
crumpled up paper towel. So that again, you get a
more natural undefined look. Finally, step back and have a good look at
your own painting. Check if there are
any areas that need a little bit of
detail I didn't to them. Are there any places where you could
strengthen the color? But on the other hand, don't fiddle and overwork it. I do hope you've
enjoyed watching my painting of these
joyful little Magpies. The tips and techniques have been helpful
and useful to you. I would really love to see
your own finished painting, which you can upload to
the Your Project section. If you could just take a moment to leave me a short review, that also would be really great. I do hope you've
enjoyed this video and it's encouraged
you to have a look at some of my other classes. In the meantime, thank
you for joining me and I look forward to seeing you
next time. Happy painting
7. MAGPIES: FINAL THOUGHTS: Well done on
completing the class. And also the painting. If you've been painting
alongside of me. We've covered quite a
few different Technique. We've simplified the drawing
from the reference photo. We use the wet-on-wet technique. For the first layer of color. We looked at how to blend
in soft and hard edges, particularly when
adding final details. We also looked at
how to lift off paint and recover light areas. Even did a bits of
rock rolling with some scrunched up paper towel
in the Background. I would really love to see
your own finished painting, which you can upload to
the Your Project section. If you could just take a moment to leave me a short review, that also would be really great. I do hope you've
enjoyed this video and it's encourage you to have a look at some of
my other classes. In the meantime. Thank
you for joining me and I look forward to seeing you
next time. Happy painting
Carrie McKenzie, creating painted visions
