Independent Study

Artist Statement:

For this project I had a lot of different ideas. I was planning on making molds out of my hands and painting them, but then I saw someone painting with inverted colors on pinterest and I wanted to try that. I sketched birds as my subjects because they tend to be colorful and I would be able to experiment a lot with color. I looked up bird paintings and found a lot with watercolor on silk so my idea changed to painting birds with watercolor. When I actually started painting, I found that I liked using dry gouache more than watercolor so I changed yet again. My finalized focus was painting birds with gouache, and to avoid directly using black. All of the birds are named after authors or disney birds.

To make these birds, I used wet gouache that I left out to dry, as well as a dry gouache palette. 

My first bird was the toucan. I began experimenting with using little to no black which was easier than I expected. I used a dark blue and red with a little yellow as the base of the feathers, and added a slightly darker version on top of that in strokes to make it look like feathers. For the white part, I made a light blue and used a darker blue and a pink for shadows. The beak was my favorite part because it looks both realistic and like a painting, and it was fun combining colors. I did end up using pure black for the eyes and part of the beak. 

My second bird was the macaw. After practicing with the toucan, I was prepared to start and improve. I used a darkish red pink for the base of the feathers, and blended it with yellow and blue on the wings. I was a lot more confident in adding the lines and for the macaw I was able to practice mixing the color lines together on the wings. For this one I didn't use any black and I really like how the beak turned out from using a combination of colors. 

The third bird was the parakeet, and I started using smaller paper. Doing this I found it easier to add more color because I was looking at the whole thing all at once instead of a bigger surface, and there was less splotches due to less time for the paint to dry. 

The last bird I made was the raven. I think he is one of my favorites. I did end up using black on this one for the base, but I added layers of blue and red, and used a dark blue and gray for the lines. I liked the position this one was in and making the eye and around that area was challenging but fun. I did begin to make a pigeon, but I had trouble blending the purple and green for the feathers.