Home Forums Explore Subjects Miniature Art Greeting cards series

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 54 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #463393
    hibiscus17
    Default

        The Xmas project has given me the chance to work in another medium – greeting cards. Currently doing a series on Australian backyard birds (the wildlife here is awesome). Here are a couple of quick pieces done last night.


        Golden Whistler. See them occasionally in our area. My personal favourite from the group of six painted last night.


        Spotted Pardolote. Spent a bit more time on this dude as it warranted it.

        Sketching the bird in coloured pencil first before adding the acrylic. Material is pearlised card. Size of card is 105mm x 148mm. These are test pieces. And making basic novice painter mistakes. Regards.

        Lawrence

        #711944

        Absolutely super work Lawrence.

        Doug


        We must leave our mark on this world

        #711969
        hibiscus17
        Default

            Thanks Doug.

            Two more test pieces started tonight. Ran out of the pearlised card stock so went with plain card stock instead. Have not considered or prepped the material beforehand so am curious to see the effect/impact. I tend to be a lazy with my technique at times. Must learn patience. Anyway, two more backyard birds in our area – Common wagtail and Channel billed cuckoo. Latter is what we call the storm bird as it usually signals the wet season around here in sunny tropical Queensland.


            Another reason I went with the yellow card was the majority of this selection of birds (eight in all) are dark coloured or as I call them monotonic. Figured to accentuate their blandness in colour by lightening the background, so that was the plan.

            As for the wagtails, I see these creatures all the time at the local shopping centre I frequnt. I love watching them; they are so frenetic as they chase the flying insects.


            Stormbird. Luckily these are test pieces. Stuffed up the beak a lot. Will go with another reference source for the finished piece. At the time I chose this one out of haste. Six more to go before I set these aside and start the Christmas card project. Can’t wait.


            Showing work done last week. Originally meant for the Christmas card project, but I changed my mind when I remembered the theme was Christmas. This unfinished test piece resembles a budgerigar but it’s actually a Pale-faced Rosella; I haven’t filled in the back feathers. Very shy bird (at least when they come calling round home). Always paired. Beautiful birds by my reckoning.


            Known locally as the Major Mitchell’s cockatoo. Or Pink Cockatoo. Lovely plumage in its head display. Again, one done last week.


            Forest kingfisher. Another early last week bird done. Untidy as shown by the green outline.


            Unfinished Galah. Often see these during the day, grazing on the lawn searching for seeds and whatever else. Made a last-minute change to the eye but forgot to finish it. Regards

            Lawrence

            #711945

            They are wonderful and would also make good note cards.

            Doug


            We must leave our mark on this world

            #711949

            I’m loving these. My sister and I birdwatch so find these really appealing. I would love to see these in person.

            These are beautifully painted as well. The Spotted Pardolote is my favourite.

            The Purple Dog Painting Blog
            Find me on Instagram
            Find me on Facebook

            #711970
            hibiscus17
            Default

                Doug, hadn’t considered notecards. But will definitely keep it in mind for the future. The experiment with the plain card stock isn’t going as well as anticipated so keen to go back to the pearlised/metallic. But first to finish the other six.

                Virginia, thank you. It’s easy to overlook that many of these are so common that one tends to casually ignore them. We even have koalas, water dragons, and wallabies visit. Only yesterday while drawing back the curtains, two wallabies were grazing on the front lawn just ten metres away. One bounded away, perhaps startled; the other soon after.

                Some of the rest done recently that I’m happy to share…incomplete as they are:


                Ubiquitous Kookaburra. Their call is often heard when displaying territorial rights. They love it when I’m mowing down the back as they swoop in on any disturbed creatures lurking about like small lizards and frogs.


                Grass Parrot. Commonly found in the Blue Mountains further south (New South Wales, west of Sydney). Haven’t seen them up in Queensland.


                Eastern Whipbird. As name suggests, these shy creatures make that whiplike sound you often hear. Dark olive plumage. I hear them sometimes in the trees down in the gully at the back of our property.


                Noisy Pitta. Seen in the valley below where I live. Legs are at wrong angle — too upright. Got the colouring right however.


                Boobook. Or as it’s known primarily in New Zealand, the morepork. Former work colleague long ago once regaled us with the legend among the Maoris that this bird when heard at night before you go to sleep is the herald of misfortune (often premonition of death). Whether that’s true or him just “winding us up” is speculative. The next morning, however, he did start wandering off the track by himself (we were bush walking at the time and he was supposedly leading the way). Big laugh amongst us and not a few comments floated amongst us about how the morepork’s call the previous night was heralding his misfortune!

                As shown here, I’ve got bit more to learn about scaling (making the image fit the display area). Not using a straight rule is another issue for me. Colours and shading are fine enough but can improve. Anyone have a suggestion for a brilliant blue or how to mix colours to obtain that bright blue; I’m having trouble here. The pearlised blue background works well for the majority, but I need to find a more pastel alternate for those with darker plumage or look. Regards.

                Lawrence

                #711956

                Hi Lawrence, Love all the birds, fabulous work. Good idea for note cards too.

                LIL

                #711971
                hibiscus17
                Default

                    Thank you Lil. Will definitely go with notecard idea for sure. Last few birds for now; more than enough to finish off. Time for the Xmas cards trade project now.


                    Grey Fantail


                    Pheasant Coucol


                    Tawny Frogmouth – used to have a family nest outside our back patio several years past. Haven’t seen them recently.


                    Powerful Owl – local to the area


                    Spangled Drongo

                    Thanks for previewing these. Regards.

                    Lawrence

                    #711950

                    These are gorgeous. I saw a tawny frogmouth at the zoo, fell in love with it, what an interesting and cute bird.

                    It is funny what you get used to seeing. This is where bald eagles congregate to breed so in the winter, I sometimes see anywhere from 10 to 60 bald eagles a day. When we first moved here I took hundreds of photos of them but I almost never do now unless they’re being cute or silly (which happens more than you would think with eagles)

                    Are you priming the card stock or painting right on it? If you’re using acrylics, Liquetex Basics has a primary blue that’s pretty bright.

                    The Purple Dog Painting Blog
                    Find me on Instagram
                    Find me on Facebook

                    #711972
                    hibiscus17
                    Default

                        No priming on the yellow card stock. I simply ran out of the pearlised blue, my preferred for these cards. Want to accentuate the dark/dull plumage of the birds by going with the yellow. Idea worked if not the material. Will certainly prime for future works.

                        Yeah, the frogmouth is quite fascinating to observe. The noisy miners like to buzz them for time to time but the frogmouth simply ignores them.

                        Lawrence

                        #711948

                        Wow, Lawrence, just WOW! Your collection of bird art is quite amazing. Love to birdwatch, too. The pearlised cards are so lovely!

                        Kay

                        Moderator: Watermedia, Mixed Media, Abstract/Contemporary

                        #711957
                        KarenESP
                        Default

                            Love the bird series, so many , where are you going to have them made into cards?

                            #711958
                            KarenESP
                            Default

                                The Xmas project has given me the chance to work in another medium – greeting cards. Currently doing a series on Australian backyard birds (the wildlife here is awesome). Here are a couple of quick pieces done last night.

                                [IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/15-Oct-2018/2016921-20181015_1918561.jpg[/IMG]
                                Golden Whistler. See them occasionally in our area. My personal favourite from the group of six painted last night.

                                [IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/15-Oct-2018/2016921-20181015_190005.jpg[/IMG]
                                Spotted Pardolote. Spent a bit more time on this dude as it warranted it.

                                Sketching the bird in coloured pencil first before adding the acrylic. Material is pearlised card. Size of card is 105mm x 148mm. These are test pieces. And making basic novice painter mistakes. Regards.

                                I think my favorite is the spotted pardolote, I wish one of those would show up at my bird feeders

                                #711973
                                hibiscus17
                                Default

                                    Thanks Karen.

                                    where are you going to have them made into cards?

                                    I haven’t considered that part yet. And this is the part that infuriates my wife no end (:lol:)…I often excuse my inaction by claiming “I simply paint the things. Beyond that, I have no idea…” Seriously, my wife is the business mind; I simply follow her lead.

                                    Kay, thanks. It was a happy accident happening across the pearlised card as I did. I’ve since examined possible materials online and am taken by the pearlised or metallic card because it’s easier to paint on with acrylics (so I reckon).

                                    Been searching through some old photos. Here are a few that I thought to share:


                                    Taken in 2010. Photo taken from our back patio of the frogmouth family that perched close enough to take this photo. It looks how I feel whenever I’m roused from my beautiful dreams. :lol:


                                    When we had the back (slopes down into the gully) terraced, it attracted the local kookaburras who came to inspect and certify our new landscape. This one seems approving of our endeavours.


                                    It’s been over eight years now since Molly, our Tibetan spaniel, was taken from us. She died from a paralysis tick (she was extremely inquisitive). She was a shelter animal we adopted. Her original owners divorced and abandoned her at the shelter. We had actually chosen another (Sam) but she was so cute and already friendly with our selection that we couldn’t refuse those eyes. You could say we got two for the price of one! :)

                                    Lawrence

                                    #711959
                                    PaintBoss
                                    Default

                                        Oh Molly was a sweetie-pie! Pets are wonderful, but losing them is so hard….
                                        Your bird paintings are wonderful. :thumbsup: :clap: And you work so quickly too. Wow!
                                        I like songbirds. But I love owls! Thank you for showing us and describing these birds.:)
                                        So is pearlised metallic a paper or a paint? You mentioned paper and then someone mentioned a paint colour. Is it easy to find? Why do you prefer it? I would like to try it.

                                        ~Christine
                                        🇨🇦

                                      Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 54 total)
                                      • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.