Painting a Bobwhite Quail in Mixed Media (3)

Painting Session 3

Date: 12/30/2017

Subject: Bobwhite Quail

Medium: Mixed Media (Watercolor, Gouache, Ink)

Paper: Canson: 90lb traditional surface watercolor paper

Watercolors used: French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna, Brilliant Yellow, Winsor Red

Gouache: Zinc White, Naples Yellow, Indian Yellow, Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue

Ink: Prismacolor fine blank ink permanent marker
Links to previous sessions: Session 1, Session 2

Due to scale and perspective issues between the quail and barn, I decided to take the barn out of the painting and raise the horizon line. I am not sure why I did not notice the problem in the original sketch, but I didn't. I wanted the barn to be back in the distance, but I got the perspective wrong and ended up with a giant quail towering over something that looks more like a small dog house rather than a barn. I did start to notice the issue at the end of session one but thought I would continue to paint it as is or possibly make some small adjustments to the size of the barn.  Using tracing paper, I sketched in some different size barns, but nothing helped, so I decided the barn had to go. I wet the barn and trees with water and lifted as much paint as possible with a paper towel. I had to be careful with the 90lb paper because once it is wet, it easily starts to come apart. Since some of the barn and trees were still showing, I had to switch to gouache for the background due to its opaque properties and ability to cover the remaining barn and trees. I have also decided to go with a greener Indian Grass. I spent time adding the chest feathers to the bird using a .005 black marker. I also painted more on the dark brown feathers and worked on the grass and background.