Blue Heon Experiment: Part 4

At this point I feel pretty good about the body of the Heron and decide to begin adding the beach. I need to have this color note on the panel to help me decide if the Heron is looking complete or if it will need more work. Because the heron is mostly blues and grey, I wanted the sand to be warm. In the reference the sand is cool: white with a touch of blue and grey. This lacks contrast, plus I know the sky and water are going to be cool, so I decied to push the color and really go for a warm yellow.

Blue Heron Experiment: Part 3

Next I mix up the colors for the body of the Heron. I fill in the area with a cool gray and then lighten and add color on the panel. I then paint in the legs and start to add more detail.

Blue Heron Experiment: Part 2

Next I mix up a pile of paint for the dark areas. I fill in the shadow on the ground and the shdow areas of the Heron. Mxing up a warm orange I paint in the beak and add a little detail.

The Blue Heron Experiment: Part 1

I have been wanting to try a new stylized approach to painting some wildlife. Sort of a loose abstract but still maintaining some detail. A source of inspiration for this would be silk baltic paintings or even the "factal" effect of a stained glass window. This is a style I have been thinking of approaching for some time now and just decided to give it a go and see how it works out. I recorded each step along the way in a sort of tutorial of the process. More for my own benefit, to be able to look back and see how I created it. But, I thought it also be an interesting process for everyone else to see as well. So here it goes.

First I sketch out the design of the Heron using a Tuscany Red colored pencil. My ground for this is a 1/8" thick hardwood panel that I made myself. I usually only use my own panels cut from hardboard, sealed and primed.

Over the sketch I outlined the basic figure using Burnt Sienna, breaking the composition up into large shapes. I am working in oil, so I will let this dry overnight so that I can work on top of it without disturbing the original markings.
To the right of the panel you can see the photo reference I am using.