Home Forums Explore Media Watercolor Watercolor Studio Toucans – what’s missing?

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  • #474423
    snowsilk
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        First watercolor painting in nearly 5 years!

        Would love feedback on how to improve on this. I think it’s too flat right now and am thinking of
        – adding more shadows on the beak
        – adding more colors / values contrast in the background

        Thank you!

        (These are TWO paintings! I like working on two versions of a painting side by side so I can ‘correct’ any mistakes and experiment in real time – and don’t have to wait for paint to dry :P)

        #841019
        KiwiKate
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            I like the RH version best. The bird is plumper. Your black is very “flat” and I’d suggest lifting some of the paint to make the black to make the feathers shine.

            Kate
            Henderson, Nevada
            C&C always welcomed!

            "Never ruin a good day by thinking about a bad yesterday". -- Anon.

            #841020
            tmwilliams
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                I’m certainly no expert – I’ve been at this for such a short time. So take my advice with a grain of salt. But here’s what I see…

                Did you use tube black, or mix your own? Using your own mix also helps prevent that flatness. I might also add a bit of complementary color wash to the parts of the beak so it’s not so clean.

                I’d also probably add some dark purple to the eye…not the whole thing…just a small bit to give it some depth.

                Do you have white gouache? I’d add a tiny dot to his eye to show a bit of reflected light.

                Thomas

                #841017
                snowsilk
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                    thank you!

                    Yes, I painted into the white of the LBS bird so it got deflated 😂

                    I actually mixed Phthalo green and a red to get the black. But I think I did too good a job in mixing so it’s a uniform boring black 😖

                    Thanks for the feedback!!

                    #841016
                    pa-paw
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                        The eye socket of a Toucan is raised around its eyes, so it catches more light than the surrounding area of the head. Maybe lifting out some of the dark pigment that surrounds the dark eye ball would give the bird more life. Your Toucans look great.:) :)

                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/pa-paw/
                        [FONT=Calibri]Photography and Art Work

                        #841018
                        snowsilk
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                            Awesome! Thanks for pointing that out :)

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